Tesco is a truly international company now, so a fall in UK sales by 0.9%, widely expected, is never good but not the end of the world.

It is the fourth consecutive quarter where Tesco have shown a drop in UK sales but investors in Tesco shares, do have the comfort of knowing ledgendary and highly successful investor, Warren Buffett, is a fellow shareholder. 

The group's total sales were higher by 7.2% with fuel figures added in, strong sales coming from Asia despite challenging trading conditions that include flooding in Thailand.

With the UK consumer's disposable income under pressure, the recent price cutting campaign could not balance the drop in sales in non food items such as clothing and electrical goods.