 the brakes have been applied to the Tesco juggernaut. Growth in sales is now mainly overseas and new chief executive Phil Clarke will no doubt be peering under the UK bonnet for answers to the slowdown in sales in its home patch.  Half-year figures showed a still impressive 8.8 per cent expansion in overall revenue, but investors are now seeing most of that coming from international stores, up 11.9 per cent in asia and an eyebrow- raising 32 per cent in the US, where losses at its Fresh and Easy chain are also significantly down and break-even is on the horizon.  Clarke has already instigated his GBP500 million "Big Price Drop" in an attempt to revive UK sales, where the company may still be market leader but is no longer getting things all its own way. The new focus will on products that consumers buy most frequently and less on subsequent buys through the Clubcard.  Tesco Bank, based in Edinburgh, has been troubled by technical issues, customer complaints and a poor response to its in-store banking operations. The full-year trading profit at the bank is expected fall GBP40m below target.  Clarke is expected to be patient while these teething problems are ironed out, but further difficulties and delays in rolling out products such as its mortgages could pose more questions about its future.  Despite these setbacks, the company's international footprint makes it an attractive play for investors through the spread of risk, even though the shares are not likely to see much in the way of capital appreciation in the shorter term due to the general lack of consumer confidence.  Sainsbury's boss Justin King will be the happier of the two supermarket bosses, after reporting second-quarter and half-year figures ahead of expectations. Raising the number of non-food products means it can now compete on better terms with its big rivals and its focus on own-brand ranges has reaped rewards.  Its shares have been weak in the market, perhaps undeservedly so, and these figures show it performing strongly in a tricky market, though analysts prefer Tesco because of the returns on its international businesses.  The bottom line for both supermarkets is that they have been slapped down by cash-strapped consumers who are being forced to choose more carefully how they spend their stretched household budgets.  as petrol prices rise, less is spent on food, and as the cost of basics goes up so shoppers deny themselves the little extras. Growing sales in such lean times will be testi 