London, June 29, 2026, 11:04 BST
- Tesco traded 0.83% higher at 463.70p in delayed London action. The FTSE 100 slipped around 0.27%.
- The grocer said Monday it bought an extra 5 million shares, lifting total purchases to £445.0 million under the £750 million buyback plan.
- For investors, the main story is the share count. Around 1.5% of the estimated shares from before the buyback have been repurchased and cancelled.
- Worldpanel numbers pointed to ongoing pressure, with Tesco posting 1.2% sales growth over 12 weeks and losing 10 basis points of market share.
Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) traded higher in London on Monday. A new buyback update showed Tesco has now executed around 59% of its planned £750 million repurchase, providing some direct per-share support as UK grocery volume figures remain mixed.
London Stock Exchange was open for business, with the regular session running from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST. TradingHours.com confirmed the exchange was open Monday. As of 10:55 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.27% at 10,479.49. Tesco traded at 463.70p, up 3.80p, or 0.83%, according to delayed London South East data.
| Market read | Latest quoted data |
|---|---|
| Tesco last quoted | 463.70p |
| Tesco daily change | +3.80p / +0.83% |
| Tesco bid and ask | 463.50p / 463.70p |
| Tesco market cap | £29.01 bln |
| FTSE 100 index | 10,479.49 |
| FTSE 100 daily move | -0.27% |
Tesco said early Wednesday it bought 5 million shares on June 26, paying an average 461.53p each, according to a 0700 GMT regulatory filing. The deal was worth about £23.1 million before fees. Tesco has picked up 97.64 million shares for £445.0 million since kicking off its buyback April 22. All shares are set for cancellation. Tesco’s ordinary shares in issue now stand at 6.29 billion.
| Buyback line | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total programme | £750.0 mln |
| Amount bought | £445.0 mln |
| Percent of programme used | 59.3% |
| Latest day’s buy | 5.0 mln shares |
| Average price latest buy | 461.53p |
| Total shares bought so far | 97.64 mln |
| Shares still in issue | 6.29 bln |
| Bought shares as percent of pre-buyback shares | about 1.5% |
The share count comes into play because Tesco’s latest trading update hasn’t been strong enough to lift the stock just on sales numbers. CEO Ken Murphy told analysts this month UK like-for-like sales were up 1.8% in Q1, which was a tough comp from last year. Fresh food sales climbed 3.6%, the Finest line added 9%, online sales gained 8.9%, and Whoosh orders jumped over 30%. Tesco left its full-year adjusted operating profit target at £3.0 billion to £3.3 billion, and free cash flow still seen in the £1.5 billion to £2.0 billion range.
“We’ve made a good start to the year,” Murphy told analysts on the June 18 call. CFO Imran Nawaz pushed back against chasing unprofitable growth, saying Tesco won’t “buy sort of any empty share just because of the difficult laps.”
Worldpanel by Numerator said UK grocery inflation eased to 3.0% in the four weeks to June 14, down from 3.1% in its prior reading. Grocery sales were up 2.4% in the period, which means volume went lower after inflation. The firm added 30.4% of grocery sales came with some deal attached.
| UK grocery signal | Latest data |
|---|---|
| Grocery inflation for the four weeks ending June 14 | 3.0% |
| Growth in UK grocery sales | +2.4% |
| Share of sales on promotion | 30.4% |
| Tesco sales growth over 12 weeks | +1.2% |
| Tesco share change | -10 bps |
| J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) sales growth | +2.0% |
| Sainsbury’s share change | +10 bps |
| Lidl GB sales growth | +8.6% |
| Ocado Group plc (LON:OCDO) sales growth | +13.5% |
The gap is the trade here. Tesco reported gains in premium, online and rapid delivery for the quarter. Market numbers showed shoppers kept chasing deals and competitors managed to grab some growth. Tesco’s buyback now acts as an EPS lever instead of just a promise on capital returns.
Murphy told Reuters after the Q1 update that last year’s market-share gains and sales growth were “truly exceptional.” He said the base was now higher, and he wouldn’t see this slower UK growth as “a sign of a slowdown per se.” Garry White from Charles Stanley said Tesco’s decision to keep guidance unchanged “should reassure investors” that the company could manage both price competition and profitability. Reuters
Tesco says it will report interim results on Oct. 8. Investors will be watching margin, Booker’s numbers, cash flow and the buyback’s impact on per-share figures.
