Sainsbury’s sales soar as food first strategy pays off

In the 52 weeks ending March 31, 2024, Sainsbury’s posted year-on-year growth of 3.4% to £36.3bn in group sales, while retail sales excluding the fuel improved 6.8% to £30.6bn.

In the same period, underlying operating profit from retail increased 4.3% to £966m, driven by “volume-driven grocery profit growth”, while group profit before tax fell 15.8% to £277m, which it said was due to “restructuring of the financial services division”.

The supermarket said grocery sales improved 9.4%, while general merchandise sales were up 1.2% and clothing sales down 6.4%.

Sainsbury’s highlighted the success of its food first strategy, adding that the supermarket is “the most competitive we have ever been”, which drove growth in volumes in every quarter and resulted in record market share gains in the year.

Looking ahead Sainsbury’s said it wants to continue ”building on this momentum and the strength of our position in the UK grocery market” and deliver retail underlying operating profit in the range of £1.01bn to £1.06bn in the year ahead.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done. Our food business is firing on all cylinders. We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors, driving consistent volume market share growth as more customers choose us for their weekly shop and all their special occasions.

“We’ve done that by relentlessly investing in price; £780m over the past three years. We know it’s still tough out there for so many households and we’re doing all we can to save money right across our business to keep prices low; we have reduced 4,000 products over the last year alone. Nectar Prices has also been a game-changer for customers, saving them £12 on a typical £80 shop. And we’re not compromising on quality: we’ve doubled our rate of innovation and Taste the Difference is performing especially well.

“As we embark on our Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy, we’ll continue to make deliberate, balanced choices to support our customers, colleagues, communities and farmers. I want to say a big thank you to all our colleagues and suppliers for all their hard work in delivering another record year. The business has real momentum and we’re excited by our goal of making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.”