Sainsbury’s has declared it is aiming to create a £445 million pot to fund growth and expand its premises significantly by March 2011.
The retailer today announced a 7.8 per cent rise in first quarter like-for-likes - excluding fuel and VAT - in its quarterly trading statement. Yesterday, rival Tesco said its UK first-quarter sales had risen by 4.3 per cent.
Sainsbury's also announced that its customer base continues to rise, with transactions per week now reaching 18.5m. The retailer said it planned to cater for this by creating an extra 12.5m sqft by March 2011, including nine stores bought from The Co-operative Group.
Sainsbury’s will raise the new cash by a share placing and convertible bond offer.
The retailer is also cutting more prices this month, bringing the total number of reductions since the start of the year to 7,000.
Sainsbury’s ceo Justin King said: "Product availability and customer service metrics reached new record levels and customers continue to recognise the competitiveness of our offer. Consumers are spending more cautiously but continue to look to trusted brands to act responsibly on ethical and environmental concerns on their behalf. Sainsbury's continuous innovation gives us a leading position on such issues.
“During the quarter we created an additional 1,000 new jobs. We extended two supermarkets and opened five new stores. Today we have opened a 50,000 sqft store in Gloucester Quays which is our latest 'green' supermarket. We have accelerated the growth of our convenience estate, as planned, opening seven new stores in the quarter, including three acquired from The Co-operative Group as announced in March.
“We have also announced today that we have agreed the acquisition of a further six supermarkets and three convenience stores from The Co-operative Group.”
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