Sainsbury only major UK grocer to keep market share at Xmas-Kantar

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - J Sainsbury was the onlygrocer among Britain's "big four" to hold onto its market sharein the Christmas trading period, resisting pressure fromdiscounters and upmarket rivals, industry data showed onTuesday. The "big four", which includes market leader Tesco,Wal-Mart's Asda and Morrisons, are beingsqueezed between hard discounters Aldi and Lidl and upmarket players Waitrose and Marks &Spencer. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Sainsbury, battlingAsda to be the UK's second-biggest grocer, grew sales by 3.1percent in the 12 weeks to Jan. 5, outperforming overall grocerymarket growth of 2.9 percent and maintaining its market share of17.1 percent. Market leader Tesco saw sales rise 0.2 percent and its sharedip 0.8 percent to 29.6 percent. Asda's sales rose 0.8 percent, while Morrisons' fell 1percent. Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose saw sales increase 29.4 percent,17.5 percent and 6.4 percent respectively. Last week Sainsbury's posted a positive update for its thirdquarter, while both Tesco and Morrisons revealed sales falls inthe Christmas period and saw annual profit expectations reduced. Also last week Aldi and Lidl said they had enjoyed recordChristmas trading, without disclosing figures, while Waitroseand Marks & Spencer's food business reported positive figures. The Kantar data also showed Internet grocery sales over theChristmas/New Year period grew 22 percent year-on-year with 15percent of British households placing orders. It said grocery inflation was 2.5 percent for the 12 weekperiod, the lowest level since October 2012 which offers a smallrespite for hard-pressed household budgets. Kantar Worldpanel - Market share (percent) 12 wks to 12 wks to pct change Jan 5, 2014 Jan 6, 2013 in sales Tesco 29.6 30.4 0.2 Asda 17.1 17.5 0.8 Sainsbury 17.1 17.1 3.1 Morrison 11.5 12.0 -1.0 Co-operative 6.1 6.2 0.4 Waitrose 4.8 4.7 6.4 Aldi 4.0 3.1 29.4 Lidl 3.1 2.7 17.5 Iceland 2.2 2.2 3.8