UPDATE 2-Tesco, Sainsbury's and Lidl are UK Christmas winners, says Kantar

Adds table

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco TSCO.L, No. 2 Sainsbury's SBRY.L and discounter Lidl were winners at Christmas, posting sales growth of 5.0%, 3.5% and 6.6%respectively, according to industry data published on Tuesday.

No. 3 Asda remained the industry laggard, with sales down 5.8% in the 12 weeks to Dec. 29 compared with the previous year, market researcher Kantar said.

Tesco's strong performance increased its share of the market to 28.5%, while Sainsbury's achieved its highest share since December 2019 at 16.0%.

Annual grocery price inflation was 3.7% in the four week December period, its highest level since March, and a jump on the 2.6% in last month's report.

UK supermarkets have warned that tax rises and another increase in the national minimum wage will be inflationary in 2025.

Separate data from the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday showed Black Friday spending helped lift retail sales in late 2024 but overall sales in the final quarter proved disappointing.

Kantar said 13 billion pounds ($16.3 billion) passed through UK supermarket tills over the four weeks to Dec. 29, with take-home grocery sales up 2.1% year-on-year.

In terms of sales over the 12-week period, Marks & Spencer's MKS.L food and drink business rose 8.7%, Kantar said, while online supermarket Ocado OCDO.L came in top with a 9.6% jump.

UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)

Source: Kantar

($1 = 0.7970 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young and James Davey, editing by Paul Sandle and Louise Heavens)

((sarah.young@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 1109; Reuters Messaging: sarah.young.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))