Sainsbury’s half year results have been offset by a “tough first quarter at Argos”. Grocery sales were up 5.0% for the for the 28 weeks to 14 September 2024, but Sainsbury’s general merchandise & clothing sales declined by 1.5% and Argos sales were down 5.0%.
However, helped by strong Nectar performance, Sainsbury’s underlying operating profit was up 3.7% to £503mn.
“Our food business is going from strength to strength and we’re making the biggest market share gains in the industry, with continued strong volume growth. More and more customers are coming to us for their big food shop, recognising our winning combination of value, quality and service,” explained Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury plc.
“Reflecting our leading quality, more customers are choosing Taste the Difference, with sales up 18%, the strongest premium private label growth in the market. And with the biggest ever increase in customers’ value perception, we’re outperforming the market across the whole basket, particularly in core fresh food categories.
“Our grocery volume growth has delivered strong profit leverage at Sainsbury’s, partially offset by a tough first quarter at Argos. Argos trading has improved through the second quarter and in more recent weeks, so we continue to expect to deliver strong retail underlying operating profit growth and free cash flow generation for the full year.”
The first RetailX Europe Top1000 360° report recently ranked sister retail brands Argos and Sainsbury’s in the Elite and Leading categories of this year’s listing, with an extended company profile looking at how they stand out.
Europe Top1000 Elite retailer Argos and Leading retailer Sainsbury’s have worked closely together during the eight years that they have been part of the same group. Sainsbury’s bought Argos in April 2016, cementing an already developing relationship that had seen Argos shops open digital format stores inside the supermarket’s branches.
Read the full two-page company profile in our first RetailX Europe Top1000 360°.
The wider report brings together two strands of RetailX research. The first is the Top1000, now in its ninth year of ranking ecommerce and multichannel retailers by performance.
The second is the more recent 360° reports, which explore markets in the round, from the economic context for retail to retailer performance and how shoppers buy, or would like to buy.
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