Commenting on Tesco’s latest trading figures, chief executive Ken Murphy said that the market environment remains “incredibly challenging” as the cost of living is being felt by shoppers nationally.

Murphy said that despite the difficulty in separating current customer habits from the significant impact of last year’s lockdowns, Tesco are seeing some early indications of changing customer behaviour as a result of inflation.

He explained: “Customers are facing unprecedented increases in the cost of living, and it is therefore even more important that we work with our supplier partners to mitigate as much inflation as possible.”

Addressing the results of the trading figures, Murphy added that Tesco’s “laser focus on value, as well as the daily dedication and hard work of our colleagues, has helped us to outperform the market.”

He said: “Our material and ongoing investment in the powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices is removing the need for customers to shop elsewhere.”

Tesco’s latest figures show that the retailer’s UK market share has grown by 27 basis points (bps), with its equivalent in Northern Ireland seeing growth of 11 bps year-on-year.

In the UK market, Tesco’s distribution of Aldi Price Match and Low Everyday Prices products are also up 19% year-on-year. The retailer also claims to maintain the “largest improvement in quality and value perception of any food retailer in the market vs pre-pandemic perception.”

The report showed a strong performance for Booker, part of the Tesco portfolio, particularly in catering, which the retailer said, “reflects the benefit of lapping lockdown and underlying business growth.” Catering like-for-like sales increased by 57.4% as Booker added over 13,000 net new customers.

Tesco said that its guidance ranges for profit and cash remain unchanged from those published at the beginning of the year. The company expects to publish its interim results in October this year.