By . Ben Griffiths . PUBLISHED: . 19:34 EST, 2 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:35 EST, 3 June 2013 . Supermarket giant Tesco will be forced to defend its recent record after sales again slid backwards following the horsemeat scandal and intense competition from rivals. The retailer will come under close scrutiny from investors when it reports financial figures for the first three months of the year on Wednesday. City analysts reckon Britain’s biggest grocer will say underlying sales for the period will have fallen by up to 1 per cent, piling more pressure on chief executive Phil Clarke. Forecasts: City analysts predict Tesco will say underlying sales for the first three months of the year have fallen . Although a small decline, the potential loss of earnings is huge because the group accounts for around £1 in every £8 spent in Britain each year. Tesco has more than 6,700 stores worldwide, including 3,146 in the UK, where it employs the equivalent to over 213,000 full-time workers. Critics believe Tesco’s rapid expansion overseas in countries like Thailand and Hungary meant it took its eye off the ball closer to home. It recently reporting its first annual profits fall in nearly 20 years, down 51.5 per cent to £1.96billion, hit by slowing sales growth and a raft of hefty writedowns. Tesco bosses have insisted UK turnaround plans were on track as it saw the best sales growth for three years in shops open at least 12 months in its final quarter, with growth of 0.5 per cent. But sales are expected to have suffered a relapse as it comes up against price-cutting among rivals and a resurgent performance from Sainsbury’s. Recent figures from Kantar Worldpanel . showed Tesco’s market share slipping to 30.2 per cent in the 12 weeks . to May 12 from 30.8 per cent a year earlier, while smaller rival . Sainsbury’s enjoyed a rise from 16.5 per cent to 16.8 per cent. Tough period: The financial figures forecast are expected to pile more pressure on chief executive Phil Clarke . Philip Dorgan, retail expert at stockbroker Panmure Gordon, is forecasting sales at stores open for at least a year to have slipped by around 1 per cent. He said it was ‘clear that Tesco has not . been one of the recent winners’, although he said the market should not . read too much into one quarter’s lacklustre trading. 'Tesco is on the right track and we expected UK recovery to slowly emerge in 2014' Philip Dorgan, retail expert . The focus is increasingly settling on online capability and less on sales growth, he added. Mr Dorgan believes Tesco’s ‘UK recovery is all about doing 1,000 things 1 per cent better, rather than having a wonderful store format that will save the company’. ‘Tesco is on the right track and we expected UK recovery to slowly emerge in 2014,’ he added. The timing of Easter would have made for a volatile quarter for Tesco and are predicting a robust March to have been offset by more subdued trading in April and May. While the horsemeat crisis has now settled down, analysts believe the scare hit Tesco worse than many of its peers. Didn't work out: Tesco has also taken a £1.2billion hit from its failed foray in America, recently confirming plans to offload its Fresh & Easy business in the US . Tesco has shifted its strategy away from increasing store space to focus more on convenience outlets and online sales when it presented annual results in April. The group has been in recovery mode since falling market share and intense competition prompted the chain’s first profits warning in 20 years in January 2012. That forced Mr Clarke, who started his career stacking shelves in Tesco, to unveil a £1billion overhaul plan in April last year. Mr Clarke has said he is pleased with the progress in the UK, although trading profits in the domestic business fell 8.3 per cent to £2.3billion in the year to February 23. It has also taken a £1.2billion hit from its failed foray in America, recently confirming plans to offload its Fresh & Easy business in the US, while it was left nursing an £804million writedown from the decision to pull its major UK store pipeline. Tesco’s figures will follow new data out today that shows the coldest spring for 50 years left fashion retailers nursing a fall in sales last month as shoppers held off from buying summery outfits. Clothing shops saw like-for-like sales fall 1.4 per cent after a particularly poor final week in May, the BDO High Street Sales Tracker revealed.
Underlying sales for first three months of 2013 forecast to have fallen 1% .
Financial results will pile more pressure on chief executive Phil Clarke .
Tesco has more than 6,700 stores worldwide, including 3,146 in the UK .
By . Ben Griffiths . PUBLISHED: . 19:34 EST, 2 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:35 EST, 3 June 2013 . Supermarket giant Tesco will be forced to defend its recent record after sales again slid backwards following the horsemeat scandal and intense competition from rivals. The retailer will come under close scrutiny from investors when it reports financial figures for the first three months of the year on Wednesday. City analysts reckon Britain’s biggest grocer will say underlying sales for the period will have fallen by up to 1 per cent, piling more pressure on chief executive Phil Clarke. Forecasts: City analysts predict Tesco will say underlying sales for the first three months of the year have fallen . Although a small decline, the potential loss of earnings is huge because the group accounts for around £1 in every £8 spent in Britain each year. Tesco has more than 6,700 stores worldwide, including 3,146 in the UK, where it employs the equivalent to over 213,000 full-time workers. Critics believe Tesco’s rapid expansion overseas in countries like Thailand and Hungary meant it took its eye off the ball closer to home. It recently reporting its first annual profits fall in nearly 20 years, down 51.5 per cent to £1.96billion, hit by slowing sales growth and a raft of hefty writedowns. Tesco bosses have insisted UK turnaround plans were on track as it saw the best sales growth for three years in shops open at least 12 months in its final quarter, with growth of 0.5 per cent. But sales are expected to have suffered a relapse as it comes up against price-cutting among rivals and a resurgent performance from Sainsbury’s. Recent figures from Kantar Worldpanel . showed Tesco’s market share slipping to 30.2 per cent in the 12 weeks . to May 12 from 30.8 per cent a year earlier, while smaller rival . Sainsbury’s enjoyed a rise from 16.5 per cent to 16.8 per cent. Tough period: The financial figures forecast are expected to pile more pressure on chief executive Phil Clarke . Philip Dorgan, retail expert at stockbroker Panmure Gordon, is forecasting sales at stores open for at least a year to have slipped by around 1 per cent. He said it was ‘clear that Tesco has not . been one of the recent winners’, although he said the market should not . read too much into one quarter’s lacklustre trading. 'Tesco is on the right track and we expected UK recovery to slowly emerge in 2014' Philip Dorgan, retail expert . The focus is increasingly settling on online capability and less on sales growth, he added. Mr Dorgan believes Tesco’s ‘UK recovery is all about doing 1,000 things 1 per cent better, rather than having a wonderful store format that will save the company’. ‘Tesco is on the right track and we expected UK recovery to slowly emerge in 2014,’ he added. The timing of Easter would have made for a volatile quarter for Tesco and are predicting a robust March to have been offset by more subdued trading in April and May. While the horsemeat crisis has now settled down, analysts believe the scare hit Tesco worse than many of its peers. Didn't work out: Tesco has also taken a £1.2billion hit from its failed foray in America, recently confirming plans to offload its Fresh & Easy business in the US . Tesco has shifted its strategy away from increasing store space to focus more on convenience outlets and online sales when it presented annual results in April. The group has been in recovery mode since falling market share and intense competition prompted the chain’s first profits warning in 20 years in January 2012. That forced Mr Clarke, who started his career stacking shelves in Tesco, to unveil a £1billion overhaul plan in April last year. Mr Clarke has said he is pleased with the progress in the UK, although trading profits in the domestic business fell 8.3 per cent to £2.3billion in the year to February 23. It has also taken a £1.2billion hit from its failed foray in America, recently confirming plans to offload its Fresh & Easy business in the US, while it was left nursing an £804million writedown from the decision to pull its major UK store pipeline. Tesco’s figures will follow new data out today that shows the coldest spring for 50 years left fashion retailers nursing a fall in sales last month as shoppers held off from buying summery outfits. Clothing shops saw like-for-like sales fall 1.4 per cent after a particularly poor final week in May, the BDO High Street Sales Tracker revealed.
underlying sales for the period will have fallen chief executive Phil Clarke. Forecasts: City for the first three months of the year have Britain each year. Tesco has more than 6,700 stores worldwide, including 3,146 in the UK, forecast are expected to pile more pressure on