Sainsbury's: reports strong first-quarter sales growth

(CercleFinance.com) - Sainsbury's, Britain's second biggest supermarket, announced double digit sales growth in grocery in the past quarter on Tuesday, outperforming the market, driven by very strong online growth.


Actually benefiting from the coronavirus lockdown, grocery sales grew by 10.5% in the nine weeks to 27 June, the retailer's first quarter.

Total retail sales were up 8.5% excluding fuel, with like-for-like sales up 8.2% in the quarter, beating consensus of 7.6%.

"Our digital performance has been particularly strong, with sales more than doubling," the group said.

Although sales growth has been strong throughout the first quarter, the company believes it is "appropriate to remain cautious" regardubg the rest of the year, citing a likely further weakening in consumer spending.

It said that it expects the Covid-19 pandemic to impact its earnings by over 500 million pounds, although this is expected to be largely offset by stronger grocery sales.

The London-listed share was up 2.4% after the report.

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