Grocery sales in Q3 rose by 4.1 per cent YoY, with a consistent performance of 3.8 per cent growth during the Christmas period. Sainsbury’s general merchandise (GM) and clothing recorded a marginal decline of 0.1 per cent YoY in Q3 but showed a recovery with a 3.4 per cent increase during the festive period, Sainsbury’s said in a press release.
Sainsbury’s has reported total sales growth of 3.7 per cent YoY in Q3 2024-25, with grocery sales up 4.1 per cent and like-for-like sales excluding fuel rising 2.8 per cent.
Christmas sales grew 3.8 per cent. GM and clothing declined 0.1 per cent in Q3 but rose 3.4 per cent during Christmas.
FY2024-25 operating profit is expected to align with £1,010-1,060 million (~$1,244-1,306 million) guidance.
Argos, a subsidiary of Sainsbury’s experienced a 1.4 per cent YoY decline in sales but returned to growth during Christmas, recording a 1.1 per cent increase. Total retail sales excluding fuel rose by 2.7 per cent in Q3, while retail sales including fuel was unchanged. The clothing category performed positively, with sales increasing by 2.2 per cent, contrasting the decline in GM sales across both Sainsbury’s and Argos. The sales of fuel witnessed a significant drop of 17.4 per cent during the quarter.
“We have won grocery market share for the fifth consecutive Christmas, with more customers choosing Sainsbury’s for their big shop. Driven by our leading combination of quality, value and service, we have achieved seven consecutive quarters of volume performance ahead of the market and further accelerated our two-year volume growth,” said Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury plc.
“The strength of our customer service and operational performance stood us apart in delivering our biggest ever Christmas. Customers shopped later than ever, and we achieved our highest ever sales in the final days before Christmas. I would like to recognise and thank all our colleagues who worked so hard to deliver record customer satisfaction and our suppliers who helped us deliver our best Christmas availability,” added Roberts.
Outlook
For full year 2024-25, Sainsbury’s expects its retail operating profit to meet expectations of its £1,010-1,060 million forecast, around seven per cent higher than last year. The company also expects the total financial services underlying operating profit to be around £30 million (previous guidance: between £15 million and £25 million) and continues to expect to generate retail free cash flow of at least £500 million.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
