UK SHOPPERS CUTTING EXPENSES

　　UK shoppers are starting to shrink their daily expenses, and their latest penny-pinching tactic is showing at the top retailer in Britain for the first time in more than 10 years.

　　The extent of the pain being felt by British shoppers became clear when its top retailer Tesco reported one of its biggest-ever falls in sales.

　　They were down 1/2 a percent - for the first time in more than a decade. One in every 10 pounds spent in Britain goes to Tesco. But customers are cutting back on food - which is usually considered a safe market. The retailer made an operating profit in the first half of the year of 3.7 percent - helped by overseas sales.

　　Tesco's Chief Operating Officer Laurie McIllwee says trading in Britain has been tough. Laurie McIlwee, Chief Operating Officer, Tesco, saiad "The UK consumer is hit very hard at the moment, Petrol prices, increases in utility costs, increases in VAT.

　　A lot of loss of security around whether your job is going to be there, so hit pretty hard. Tesco in the UK has a much greater proportion of general merchandise, things like electrical and clothing an easier product to defer a purchase of than just pure food." Sales at rival retailer Sainsbury were slight better - but growth was modest Britain's 3rd biggest grocer reported a 1.9 percent rise in the second quarter. It's not just food sales that are slowing.

　　Shoppers are also cutting back on discretionary goods - which Tesco sells a large proportion of. Adam Leyland of Grocer magazine says the state of the economy is forcing Tesco's competitors to fight harder for market share.

　　Adam Leyland, editor of the Grocer Magazine, says "The fact is the likes of Sainsburys and Morrisons and Asda have also really improved.

　　In the early noughties they (Tesco) had the market virtually to themselves as the others were imploding now everyone's taking a nibble at them." The results were released as Britain's economic growth in the second quarter was unexpectedly revised down to just 0.1 percent. They also strengthen calls for the government to slow its deficit reduction.

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