Tesco has reported a 17.5 per cent increase in sales ahead of Christmas - spurred by growth in its clothing division.
Discount promotions such as £4 sterling jeans at its British stores had enabled Tesco to capture market share from rivals such as Sainsbury's and Safeway.
The supermarket chain reported growth in all key divisions, with British sales rising 14.6 per cent for the 14 weeks to November 15th, including growth of 4.3 per cent at its T&S convenience stores. Stripping out fuel price inflation, like-for-like sales at its British stores were ahead 6.6 per cent for the period.
Tesco said its international sales were up 31 per cent in the third quarter with all countries contributing to growth despite tough trading conditions caused by weak economies overseas.
It pledged to have 189 hypermarkets in operation by the end of this year with stores in 10 countries including South Korea, Thailand, Ireland and Poland at present.
Earlier this month it unveiled plans to gain a foothold in Turkey by purchasing hypermarket chain Kipa, which has five stores in the Aegean region and had sales of £124 million last year.
Tesco reported sales growth of 14.2 per cent in its half-year results in September, with like-for-like growth of 6.3 per cent driven by excellent summer weather.