Booker retail sales saw a decline over the third quarter (Q3) of the year and the Christmas period.
In the latest Tesco results, for the 19 weeks to 3 January 2026, Booker core retail like-for-like sales saw a 0.4% decline. This drop was attributed to the ending of a lower-margin national account earlier in 2025.
Its tobacco sales saw a 10.9% decline over the same period, driven by consumer shifts in the category. Booker’s core catering sales saw a rise of 2.4% driven by a ”strong contribution from specialist wine and spirit merchant, Venus”, while its Best Food Logistics division saw a 0.6% rise “despite continued weakness in parts of the fast-food market”. Overall, Booker’s like-for-like sales dipped 1.3%.
Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy also highlighted the success of rapid delivery service, Whoosh, which “performed strongly, with more than 250,000 new customers over the period”. Other highlights flagged included the expanded retail media offer including launch of screens in Booker and One Stop.
Tesco’s overall group sales for the combined 19 weeks of Q3 and Christmas were up 2.9%.
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