International News - French grocer beats rivals to top spot

French hypermarket group Carrefour has retained Europe's number one grocery crown, beating second-placed Tesco by a country mile.

Last year, Carrefour generated net food sales of EUR52.56 billion (£36.77 billion) - EUR21.69 billion (£15.17 billion) more than its British counterpart Tesco. ITM, with 29 per cent of its sales outside France, clinched third position.

The top two took 6.8 and 4.5 per cent of total retail market share respectively.

The biggest winners in the M+M PlanetRetail survey were discount operators.

Net sales at Schwarz Group - which runs Lidl - grew by 24 per cent in the depressed German marketplace, where food expenditure shrank by 1 per cent.