Tesco boss Philip Clarke's turnaround plans will be under fresh scrutiny on Wednesday when the supermarket is expected to reveal a fall in UK sales.

Analysts are predicting like-for-like sales to have dropped by around 1.5% in its third quarter, marking a setback for the group after it managed to halt declines in the previous three months, when sales remained flat.

Mr Clarke will face tough questions over his £1 billion plan to reinvigorate trading as the group enters its peak Christmas trading period.

Some major investors have already reportedly raised concerns over the chain's management team following a dire set of first half figures. Tesco's interim profits tumbled by almost a quarter to £1.39bn after underlying sales declines in the UK and every one of its overseas markets.

The group insisted its turnaround efforts were paying off with an improved performance in the UK, where trading profits rose 1.5% to £1.13 billion in the six months to August 24.

Its own broker, Deutsche Bank, is pencilling in a 1.5% fall in UK sales and now believes group underlying earnings over the current financial year will fall 3% to £3.35 million.

First-half figures from luxury handbag maker Mulberry on Thursday will be looked to for signs of improvement as the group seeks to recover from plunging profits and falling sales.

The firm was left nursing a slump in full-year profits of more than a quarter to £26m after spending heavily on overseas expansion, while a 16% slide in wholesale revenues wiped out a 6% sales rise in its own stores.

But there were signs of progress as the firm said retail like-for-like sales had risen by 6% in the first 10 weeks of the new financial year, while it hoped to halt wholesale declines with "modest" growth over the year as a whole. Chief executive Bruno Guillon is also putting faith in his international expansion plans, though a slowdown in consumer demand across emerging markets may dampen its prospects.

Barclays analysts said after Mulberry's full-year figures in June that the firm needed to provide "more evidence to reflect the global growth story". But they added: "Our belief that Mulberry can move from a domestic UK brand to a global brand remains high, providing significant long-term growth potential."

Pub group and brewer Greene King is expected to report back on a robust first half following the summer heatwave and as consumers continue to eat and drink out despite the squeeze on personal finances.

The firm - whose brands include Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne as well as beers such as Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale - saw sales growth pick up pace in its core retail estate of 1,000 managed pubs during the first 18 weeks of its financial year, to 4.6% from 2.3% in the previous year.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank are pencilling in a rise of around 4% when the group reports tomorrow.

They believe interim underlying pre-tax profits will rise by 8% to £31 million.

Greene King is also likely to benefit from bucking the traditional summer trend away from real ale, with sales volumes of Old Speckled Hen up 7.8% in the first 18 weeks.