Tesco, the supermarket giant, has posted its worst Christmas period figures in decades and recorded a 2.3% drop in sales excluding VAT and fuel in the six week run up to January 7 2012.

The retailer said the results for the period were “below expectations and disappointing” and warned it would see “minimal” profit growth this year.

The loss is said to have been suffered predominantly because of the a fall in sales of food.

Philip Clarke, chief executive, said: “We will continue the process of change that we started nine months ago to address long-standing business issues, building on the important steps we have already taken in the US, in Japan and at Tesco Bank, as well as those we have begun to take in the UK.”

The supermarket chain believe that the Big Price Drop campaign was an important first step towards this but there was much more it could do to improve its customers’ shopping experiences.

Looking ahead, Clarke said: “In a challenging consumer environment at home, and with early signs of more cautious behaviour emerging elsewhere, we have seen more strain than anticipated on our profitability during the important seasonal trading period.

“As a result, while underlying profit before tax and earnings per share for 2011/12 will be broadly in line with market consensus forecasts, we expect group trading profit growth to be around the low end of the current consensus range.”