Britain's big four supermarkets suffer sales falls

(Adds table, details, comment)

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top four supermarkets

suffered sales declines in the last three months, industry data

showed on Wednesday, as a price war and record grocery deflation

continues to hit the sector.

After recent signs of a recovery gaining momentum, Britain's

biggest supermarket Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) saw sales fall back 1.0

percent in the 12 weeks to April 26, market researcher Kantar

Worldpanel said.

The rest of Britain's 'big four' - Asda, Sainsbury's

and Morrisons, which like Tesco have cut prices

in response to pressure from fast-growing discounters Aldi and

Lidl, saw declines of 2.2 percent, 0.2 percent and 1.1 percent

respectively.

Aldi, now the UK's sixth biggest supermarket chain ahead of

upmarket Waitrose, posted sales growth of 15.1 percent in the

period, with Lidl's sales up 10.1 percent. Both figures were

slower than in recent months, however.

"Growth in the market has declined thanks to a record low

for grocery price deflation," Kantar's Fraser McKevitt said.

"This is good news for consumers... But many of the

country's largest grocers have struggled to enjoy substantial

growth, with lower prices taking 532 million pounds ($808

million) out of supermarket tills."

Kantar said the overall grocery market saw sales fall 0.2

percent in the period and that grocery inflation stood at minus

2.1 percent.

On top of a price war, Britain's 'big four' are all having

to adjust their businesses to consumers' changing shopping

habits, with many favouring online shops or little and often

visits to convenience stores over traditional, larger

out-of-town stores.

Sainsbury's, the best performer in the period, posted its

first statutory annual loss in a decade on Wednesday and said it

did not expect the trading environment to improve any time soon.

Market share (percent) and sales

(Source: Kantar Worldpanel)

12 wks to 12 wks to pct change

Apr 26, 2015 Apr 27, 2014 in sales

Tesco 28.4 28.8 -1.0

Asda 16.9 17.3 -2.2

Sainsbury 16.5 16.6 -0.2

Morrison 10.9 11.0 -1.1

Co-operative 6.0 6.1 -1.0

Waitrose 5.1 5.1 1.5

Aldi 5.4 4.7 15.1

Lidl 3.8 3.5 10.1

Iceland 2.1 2.1 0.0

($1 = 0.6585 pounds)

(Reporting by Neil Maidment, Editing by James Davey)