Iceland's market share could drop below 2% by the end of the year if current trends continue, according to data from TNS Superpanel. The chain's share of the UK food retail market has dropped from highs of 2.9% in December 2000 to 2.3% in September 2002. Broker Schroder Salomon Smith Barney said: "Market share has been lost every month for the past 18 months." The data suggests Safeway's poor performance last month (5.1%) was not a blip, says the broker, with a 4.9% year-on-year decline this September. Measuring market share on a three-month rolling average basis, a more reliable measure, the gap between Asda and Sainsbury is just 1%. Given the likelihood of strong Christmas trading on non-food, Asda is set to take the number two slot by the end of the year, claimed SSSB. At 17.2%, Sainsbury's share was equal to its lowest on record, widening the gap with Tesco (at 26.1%) to almost 10%. {{NEWS }}

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