Grocers are going to produce great festive results

Winners and losers on the High Street will emerge this week as some of Britain's biggest stores publish festive trading figures.

M&S is tipped to have had a great Christmas, according to The Mail on Sunday, and will update investors on Thursday.

The supermarket giants are also expected to have performed strongly with Sainsbury's and Tesco, thanks to the publication of figures on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

But others will have fared less well. While Next published strong figures last week, JD Sports had to lower its profit expectations due to an unexpected turn of events. The 'King of Trainers' admitted it now does not expect to reach its £1 billion annual profit target, despite bosses' confidence last year.

Shopper demand was weaker than expected, “due to more cautious consumer spending.”

But Next, led by Lord Wolfson, saw its shares rise after raising its profit forecasts for the fifth time since June amid better-than-expected sales.

Data from retail expert Kantar, seen by The Mail on Sunday, shows that grocery sales at M&S ​​increased by 14.2 percent in the four weeks before Christmas Eve compared to the previous year.

Analysts expect the company to achieve sales growth in its food and apparel and home construction divisions. Shares ended 2023 at their highest level since 2019 after the retailer returned to the FTSE 100 in September.

In the festive supermarket battle, Britain's biggest supermarket chain and the runners-up – Tesco and Sainsbury's – are expected to come out on top, according to Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.