PART OF THE WEEK: Tesco ready for Q1 update

Tesco is in the spotlight next week and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Britain’s largest grocer increased its market share to 27.6 percent last month – up from 27.1 percent a year ago – while its nearest rival Sainsbury’s lags behind with 15 percent.

So investors will be hoping that Tesco’s first quarterly update on Friday will provide even more clarity between Tesco and the rest of the chasing pack.

Analysts at Jefferies expect the supermarket’s retail business in Britain and Ireland to grow 4.3 percent in the three months to May. That would reflect a slightly weaker performance, after an increase of 8.8 percent the year before.

Last time, Tesco’s total turnover in the first quarter a year ago was £14.8 billion.

Analysts said another key figure to note is whether Tesco still thinks it will have £2bn of free cash flow flowing through the business this year.

They wonder if some of this pile of cash can be returned to investors in the form of a special dividend.

Tesco recently revealed that boss Ken Murphy (pictured) took home a record paycheck of almost £10 million in 2023 – more than double the £4.4 million he received the year before.

A positive update on Friday could provide a much-needed boost to Tesco’s share price, which is up 6 percent so far this year.