Sainsbury’s has had to face up to a "challenging economic environment" in order to build on its sales growth, its latest figures show.

The retailer’s first quarter trading statement for the 12 weeks to June 14 showed that total sales up 8.1 per cent, or 4.5 per cent excluding fuel, while like-for-like sales were up 7.3 per cent, or 3.4 per cent excluding fuel.

The online operation continued to perform well, with sales growth at over 40 per cent.

Four new supermarkets, including one replacement, were opened during the period, while two others were extended and a further nine were refurbished.

Justin King, chief executive, was pleased with the “good performance in line with our expectations”, on top of strong comparative growth in the first quarter of last year.

He said: “Our universal appeal provides customers with great-quality products, whatever their budget. We have enhanced our promotional offer, providing clear and simple deals for customers, further expanded our Basics range, which continues to show strong sales growth, and launched our Feed your Family for a Fiver campaign.

This campaign features a combination of advertising and in-store tip cards, which show customers how to get the best value from their shop by providing healthy, fresh and tasty meal ideas for a family of four for £5 or under.

“We continue to drive improvements in our operations in-store and throughout the supply chain. Product availability and customer service have stepped up significantly since the previous year and during the quarter recorded their highest levels since our mystery customer measurements began.”

He added: “The challenging economic environment continued throughout the quarter. However, we are now serving nearly 18 million customers a week and have delivered sales growth in line with our expectations. Whilst we anticipate that the environment will remain challenging, we operate from a strong financial position and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.”

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