London, Oct. 18 - Tesco PLC's market share in the U.K. grocery market has risen to 31.4% in the 12 weeks to Oct. 8, according to Taylor Nelson Sofres World Panel market share data publish Wednesday.
Tesco's market share in the same period a year earlier had been 30.1%.
J. Sainsbury PLC increased its market share to 15.7% in the period from 15.5% a year earlier, TNS said.
Asda Group Ltd., a subsidiary of the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart Store Inc. of the U.S., was in third spot with an unchanged market share of 16.6% in the 12 week period, compared with 16.6% in the same period a year earlier, according to TNS.
William Morrison Supermarkets market share fell to 11.1% from 11.3% a year earlier.
TNS monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 20,000 demographically representative households in the U.K.