Sainsbury’s sales figures for its first quarter to June 11 have disappointed analysts, but CEO Justin King has hailed them as “solid”. Excluding fuel, total sales were up 4.3 per cent for the period and like-for-like were up 1.9 per cent. This compares to one per cent announced by Tesco yesterday. Weekly transactions have also climbed five per cent.
Justin King CBE said: “We’ve delivered a solid sales performance, in line with our expectations, in spite of the continued tough consumer environment.”
Sainsbury’s said in a statement that its customers celebrated despite the tough economic conditions with strong performances at Easter, the Royal Wedding and during the heatwave in April.
Customers are keeping the cost of their shopping low through buying Sainsbury's own label ranges and all three ranges: Basics, By Sainsbury's, and Taste the Difference saw volume and sales growth in the period. Basics is the retailer’s fastest-growing brand, and is number two in the value market with 22.3 per cent market share.
The convenience business grew at 20 per cent, underpinned by strong like-for-like growth, groceries online business grew at over 20 per cent.
“The market environment remains very competitive, reflecting the challenging economic backdrop,” the retailer said in a statement. “We expect this to be the case throughout the year.”
But ahead of the results City analysts had forecast that Sainsbury’s growth for the period would reach anywhere from 2.1 per cent to 2.5 per cent. A reflection of its flat performance was the fact its shares barely moved on the news during trading remaining at 326.5p on Wednesday.
