LONDON (Brand Republic) 鈥 Tesco is forging ahead with its international expansion plan after revealing a 49% increase in foreign sales in the third quarter.
The retailer has already outlined plans to have 130 superstores abroad by 2002 and said it would make a profit in its main overseas markets, Thailand and Hungary. It has 24 stores in Thailand and wants to increase this to 40 by 2003.
Tesco said its aggressive price-cutting and increased non-food product sales helped UK sales surge 8.9% for the quarter ending November 18. A spokesman said it had ploughed £500m into price cuts in the past two years to maintain the lead on US rival Wal-Mart, which bought the Asda chain in 1999.
鈥淭his was a strong sales performance, driven by price reductions and marketing,鈥 the spokesman added.