Highlights
• Total sales for first quarter up 5.7 per cent (6.7 per cent excluding fuel)
• Like-for-like sales for first quarter up 4.4 per cent (5.1 per cent excluding fuel)
• Tenth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth
Justin King, chief executive, said: “We have made a strong start to the third year of our Making Sainsbury’s Great Again plan. In the first quarter like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 5.1 per cent, our tenth quarter of continuous sales growth. This is particularly pleasing as the quarter included some very tough comparatives in the final few weeks driven by the football world cup and the very warm weather last June. Both of these factors also impact the quarter two comparatives.
“Our ability to control stock levels and improve availability during an exceptionally warm April followed by a very wet May highlights the improvements we’ve made to our supply chain systems and in store operations over the past couple of years.
“Total sales growth continues to be driven by our strong quality food offer. Our ongoing growth in market share (2) reflects the significant improvements we’ve made to the shopping experience of our customers over the first two years of our recovery. Although small by comparison, non-food sales continue to grow in line with our expectations as we continue to develop this offer.
“Customers value fresh, healthy and tasty products which have been sourced with integrity. These factors are of increasing importance to consumers today and we continue to see growth in sales of organic and Fairtrade products. Customers understand that they can buy quality food at fair prices at Sainsbury’s as demonstrated by us selling Fairtrade bananas at the same price our competitors sell conventional bananas. By August we expect that every banana sold in Sainsbury’s will be Fairtrade.
“In April our first ‘Make the difference’ day raised the issue of plastic bag usage. Our ‘Make the difference’ programme is based on the principle that individual contributions can be combined to effect big change. On the first two days of the programme we issued around ten million free ‘bags for life’, saving an estimated 520 million standard disposable bags this year alone.
“In May we completed the third year of our Active Kids programme. Customers collected vouchers towards new sports equipment for schools, Scouts and Guide groups. We have donated over £34 million worth of sports equipment over two years and this year’s programme will add substantially to that total.
“The operating environment remains competitive, which has been reflected in recent activity across the market. We have reduced prices on another 4,500 products since April and invested over £450 million in improving the customer offer since March 2005. We will continue to maintain our competitive price position with our commitment to invest 100-150 basis points annually in the customer offer.
“Our sales and operational performance this quarter represents continued progress towards our Making Sainsbury’s Great Again targets. As outlined at our Preliminary results in May, the business is in a strong position to grow and we have set out new plans for further sales and space growth. These provide Sainsbury’s with substantial opportunity for further development of the business and value creation for our shareholders.”
Enquiries:
Investor Relations Media
Elliot Jordan Pip Wood
+44 (0) 20 7695 4931 +44 (0) 20 7695 6127
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