If Carlsberg made supermarkets they would probably look like Tesco. The Danish brewer's advertisements show a world where everything is as its consumers would wish - much like a Tesco trading statement. But yesterday Tesco struck a more circumspect tone about its prospects than many market forecasts.

Tesco's performance is undeniably impressive - increasing like-for-like sales and market share strongly in a UK market showing signs of stagnating. Tesco, sensibly, does not believe the current pace is sustainable. It expects renewed competition from struggling peers J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison, which some optimists are writing off as serious threats. Margins must also withstand a renewed price war with Asda and rising energy costs.