* Sainsbury's sales up 9.3% in 12 weeks to Dec. 24 - Kantar
* Tesco sales up 7.5% in 12 weeks to Dec. 24 - Kantar
* UK grocery inflation slows to 6.7% in December - Kantar

By James Davey
       LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - British supermarket winners at
Christmas were German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl, No. 2
player Sainsbury's, and market leader Tesco,
according to industry data published on Wednesday.
    Market researcher Kantar said those performing not so well
included Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland.
    Marks & Spencer, which analysts believe performed
well, is not included in Kantar's monthly data set.
    The researcher said that over the 12 weeks to Dec. 24,
Sainsbury's sales were up 9.3% year on year, pushing up its
market share to 15.8%, its highest since December 2020.
    Tesco's sales rose 7.5% and its market share edged up 0.1
percentage point to 27.6%.
    Kantar recorded Lidl's sales growth at 13.8% and Aldi's at
9.9%, increasing their combined market share to 17%.
    Lidl and Aldi on Tuesday reported sales growth of 12% and 8%
respectively for December.
    Kantar said a record 13.7 billion pounds ($17.3 billion)
passed through UK supermarket tills over the four weeks to Dec.
24.
    Total take-home grocery sales grew in value by 7.0%, a
figure largely driven by inflation, which slowed to 6.7% in the
period from 9.1% in last month's report, marking the fastest
month-on-month drop that Kantar has recorded and hitting its
lowest level since April 2022.
    "The rate of inflation is coming down at the fastest pace we
have ever recorded, but consumers are still facing pretty hefty
pressures on their budgets," Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of
retail and consumer insight, said.
    Sales measured by volume, or the number of items bought,
rose 2% over the four weeks.
    The researcher said the average household spent an all-time
high of 477 pounds in the period, up 28 pounds on 2022.
    Nearly one third of all spend was made on items with some
kind of offer, the highest level since December 2020.
    Kantar also highlighted especially strong performances from
supermarkets' own-label lines, with sales of premium ranges like
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference and Tesco Finest surging by
11.9% over the 12-week period compared with last year. Branded
sales rose by 6.0% during the same period.
    Online's share of the market held steady at 11.6%.
    Sainsbury's is due to report on Christmas trading on Jan.
10, with Tesco and M&S updating on Jan. 11.
       
 UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)
                  Market share  Market share  % change in
                  12 wks to     12 wks to     sales
                  Dec 24 2023   Dec 25 2022   (yr-on-yr)
 Tesco            27.6          27.5          7.5
 Sainsbury's      15.8          15.5          9.3
 Asda             13.6          14.0          3.4
 Aldi             9.3           9.1           9.9
 Morrisons        8.8           9.1           3.2
 Lidl             7.7           7.2           13.8
 Co-operative     5.4           5.6           3.8
 Waitrose         4.6           4.7           4.0
 Iceland          2.4           2.5           2.9
 Ocado            1.7           1.7           5.5
 Source: Kantar    

($1 = 0.7915 pounds)

    
 (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Sonali Paul)