Sainsburys reported a 3% rise in first-quarter underlying sales on Tuesday, though weather-related weakness in non-food categories partially offset strong demand for groceries.
Britain’s second-largest supermarket group, which has a UK market share of 15.2%, said grocery sales rose 4.8% in the 16 weeks to 22 June.
However, general merchandise and clothing sales fell 4.3% and sales at the group’s Argos business dropped by 6.2%.
These declines reflected both poor early summer weather which dented sales and the strength of sales in the same period last year.
Sainsburys said it still expected full-year underlying profit for 2024/25 of between £1.01 billion and £1.06 billion, which would be growth of 5% to 10%.
Chief executive of the group Simon Roberts said, “We are pleased with our market-beating grocery performance.
“We’ve been winning from competitors every month for 15 months, as more and more people are choosing Sainsburys for their big weekly shop.”
Strong Growth
The retailer noted that volume growth had remained strong as inflation had slowed, despite difficult weather comparatives in recent weeks.
Sainsburys and market leader Tesco – which last month reported a 4.6% rise in first-quarter underlying UK sales – are pulling away from traditional rivals Asda and Morrisons, which are contending with high debt.
Sainsburys’ UK grocery market share was 15.2% in the 12 weeks to 9 June, up 30 basis points year-on-year, according to market researcher Kantar.
Under Roberts, Sainsburys has matched discounter Aldi’s prices on essential items and provided better offers for members through its Nectar card loyalty scheme, financed by cutting costs.
In February, it set a new three-year cost-saving target of £1 billion and vowed to step up capital expenditure and boost returns for shareholders.
Its shares are down 4% year-on-year.
Last month, Sainsburys agreed to sell most of its banking business to NatWest.
