Sainsbury’s expects to hit the top half of its profit guidance for the year, as its focus on food pays off.
The supermarket predicts it will make between £670m and £700m for the year, despite underlying pre-tax profits remaining flat at £340m for the half to 16 September.
However, on a statutory basis the retailer’s profits fell 27% for the half year.
Grocery sales shot up more than 10% as volume growth across both quarters drove record market share gains for the business.
Meanwhile, clothing sales slipped 8.4%, which it said reflected a “disciplined trading approach in a seasonally weak and promotionally-driven market”.
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The grocer claimed it had grown ahead of the market throughout the first half and had made record market share gains.
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said it was “encouraged by out strong momentum” as it entered the key Christmas trading period.
He said: “Food is firmly back at the heart of Sainsbury’s. We’ve never been more competitive on price and our focus on value, innovation and service is giving more customers more reasons to shop with us.
“We know people are still finding things tough and we’re working harder than ever to reduce our costs, putting the money back into our customers’ pockets through lower prices on the products they buy most often.
“I’m pleased to say food inflation is coming down and we are passing savings on to customers.”
Roberts said its Nectar Prices had helped customers save over £450m since its launch in April. This week Sainsbury’s launched personalised prices online for Nectar card users earlier this week, following in-store success.”
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