London, July 3, 2026, 16:02 BST
- Tesco slipped 1.08% to 468.40p/468.60p in late trading in London, while the FTSE 100 added around 0.17%.
- Tesco picked up 4.0 million shares on July 2, putting total purchases under the ongoing buyback at 116.1 million shares, or £530.9 million so far.
- Based on Friday’s price, the £219.1 million still in the program is enough for around 46.8 million shares, or 0.75% of shares outstanding.
- London stocks were still trading at the dateline. The LSE session goes from 0800 to 1630 BST.
Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) traded lower Friday. The grocer’s regular buyback notice showed it’s spent £530.9 million out of a £750 million repurchase program that began in April.
Shares last showed at 468.40p on the bid and 468.60p on the offer, off 5.10p, or 1.08%, according to delayed data from AJ Bell. The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) was up 0.17% at 10,671.07, based on Hargreaves Lansdown figures.
| Friday after hours | Tesco | FTSE 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Last price | 468.40p / 468.60p | 10,671.07 |
| On the day | -1.08% | +0.17% |
| Last close | 473.60p | — |
| Year range | 396.606p-510.40p | — |
| Market cap | £29.24 bln | — |
The stock climbed 3.11% on Thursday, but it’s still trading about 8.2% below its 52-week high. The FTSE 100 gained too. MarketWatch said Tesco ended July 2 at £4.74.
Tesco moved quickly with its buyback. It picked up 4.5 million shares on July 1 at 461.50p on average, and another 4 million the next day at 471.47p. In total, Tesco spent around £39.6 million over the two days, paying an average price of 466.19p.
| Buyback measure | July 1 | July 2 | Since April 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shares repurchased | 4.5 mln | 4.0 mln | 116.1 mln |
| Average paid per share | 461.50p | 471.47p | 457.10p |
| Total spent | £20.8 mln | £18.9 mln | £530.9 mln |
| Shares left in issue | 6.273 bln | 6.269 bln | 6.269 bln |
Based on data provided by the company.
Why it counts: sales momentum has slowed. At 468.5p, the outstanding £219.1 million would buy back close to 46.8 million shares. That is a small bite of Tesco’s 6.269 billion shares out, but it could still push up per-share earnings if growing profits from food sales stays tough.
Tesco’s Q1 update pointed to pressure in the business. Group like-for-like sales ticked up 1.0% for the 13 weeks to May 30. Like-for-like sales in the UK were up 1.8%, but sales at Booker dropped 3.2%. Tesco left its full-year forecasts unchanged, sticking with adjusted operating profit between £3.0 billion and £3.3 billion, and free cash flow of £1.5 billion to £2.0 billion.
| Tesco Q1 sales, exc. VAT and fuel | Sales | Like-for-like change |
|---|---|---|
| UK & ROI | £13.44 bln | +1.8% |
| UK | £12.60 bln | +1.8% |
| ROI | £838 mln | +3.3% |
| Booker | £2.25 bln | -3.2% |
| Central Europe | £1.14 bln | +0.8% |
| Group | £16.83 bln | +1.0% |
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said the retailer made “progress in the first quarter,” but pointed to “ongoing uncertainty for many households.” He said Tesco is keeping its focus on price, quality and service.
Headline numbers didn’t tell the whole story. UK food sales were up 2.6%, with fresh food up 3.6% and Finest posting a 9% gain. Online sales climbed 8.9%. Booker lagged after losing a low-margin contract and running up against tough weather comps.
Food inflation remains the main variable. British Retail Consortium Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said “a competitive market is keeping inflation in check for now,” though retailers still had to deal with higher labour, packaging and input costs. BRC data put food price inflation at 2.4% in June, down from 2.7% in May. Reuters
J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) sent a similar signal earlier this week. CEO Simon Roberts talked about “pressure in the system.” Reuters said British grocery inflation fell to 3.0% in the four weeks to June 14, citing Worldpanel. Reuters
Tesco’s next scheduled update is interim results on Oct. 8.
