Sainsbury’s boosted by strong performance in food
Sainsbury’s has hailed its “market-beating” grocery performance as it announced a 4.2% increase in first quarter sales.
In a trading statement, the supermarket said its food business is going from strength to strength with grocery sales up 4.8% in the 16 weeks to 22 June as customers made it their “first choice for food”.
Meanwhile, total retail sales rose by 2.6% as like-like sales increased by 3%.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury, said: “We are pleased with our market-beating grocery performance and the early progress we’re making against our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan.
“We’ve been winning from competitors every month for 15 months, as more and more people are choosing Sainsbury’s for their big weekly shop.
“We are laser focused on delivering the best combination of value and quality in the market and our customers are recognising that with 98% of big baskets including Nectar Prices or Aldi Price Match.
“Innovation continues to be a top priority and we launched 400 new products this quarter, almost half of which were Taste the Difference, which continues to outperform a strong premium market.”
However, there was a 4.3% decline in general merchandise and clothing sales as an improving trend in the clothing category was offset by weaker seasonal general merchandise sales.
Meanwhile, Argos sales fell by 6.2% against a particularly strong comparative period after it experienced significantly lower seasonal sales and weaker demand for consumer electronics, particularly in the gaming category.
Sainsbury’s said it is continuing to expect its full year retail underlying operating profit to come in at between £1.01 billion and £1.06 billion, with growth of between 5% and 10% on the prior year.
