Ahold, Tesco to highlight growth ambitions

Retail services chief Andrew Higginson told the Guardian newspaper last month that Tesco was not interested in buying assets from Northern Rock and dampened speculation of other deals by saying "organic growth is best."

Morrison is expected to report a 4.6 percent rise in sales at stores open at least a year, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, for the 13 weeks to November 1.

That would be down from a 7.8 percent in the first half, but a healthy performance compared with rivals, whose recent results have not included the most recent falls in food price inflation.

Asda, Britain's No.2 grocer, posted a 5.6 percent rise in underlying sales for the three months to September 30, while J Sainsbury reported a 5.4 percent increase for the 16 weeks to October 3 and Tesco a 3.1 percent rise for the three months to August 29.