Trading Statement

RNS Number : 5648P

Sainsbury(J) PLC

05 October 2011

 



5 October 2011

Second Quarter Trading Statement for 16 weeks to 1 October 2011

Good sales performance in a challenging market

·    Total sales for second quarter up 7.8 per cent (4.4 per cent excluding fuel)

·    Like-for-like sales for second quarter up 5.4 per cent (1.9 per cent excluding fuel)

·    Total sales for first half up 7.6 per cent (4.3 per cent excluding fuel)

·    Like-for-like sales for first half up 5.1 per cent (1.9 per cent excluding fuel)

Justin King, Chief Executive, said, "We have delivered a good sales performance in a tough consumer environment.  Total sales for the quarter were up 7.8 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 5.4 per cent. Excluding fuel, total sales for the quarter were up 4.4 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 1.9 per cent and  two-year like-for-like growth of 4.7 per cent."

This quarter we launched 'Live Well For Less', which re-affirms our commitment to providing customers with fantastic quality products at great prices.  The re-launch of our 'by Sainsbury's' range is well under way, with over 3,000 new or improved lines already in store.  'by Sainsbury's' offers customers the same or better quality as the branded equivalent at prices typically at least 20 per cent lower, with no compromise on the values our customers trust.  Our innovative new products such as our Mexican ready-meal range are proving extremely popular.  At the same time, our premium 'Taste the Difference' range, which we re-launched last year, and our economy 'basics' range both saw strong growth.

Fuel prices continue to impact customers' disposable income and put pressure on household budgets. Our market-leading petrol offers, combined with strong promotions and competitive pricing on branded goods, ensure our customers can enjoy great value without compromising on the high quality Sainsbury's fresh food and own label products they love. Through 'Live Well For Less' we are demonstrating to customers that they need look no further than Sainsbury's to solve the challenges of their grocery shopping.

Our general merchandise and clothing businesses continued to grow strongly in the quarter, with sales growth well ahead of the grocery business. Our July home event was our biggest ever, with customers snapping up our great value TU cookshop and tableware products and our better than half price "bed-in-a-bag". Back-to-school sales were up almost 40 per cent on last year; in our peak week we sold over 100,000 pairs of trousers and 70,000 packs of polo shirts. And tomorrow Gok Wan launches his debut womenswear collection in over 200 stores. There are 13 styles, with prices starting from just £20.  This is the first of a number of collections Gok is creating exclusively for Sainsbury's under the Gok for TU brand.

Reflecting the trend for local shopping, our convenience business continued to grow at 20 per cent, with like-for-like growth ahead of supermarkets. We opened our 400^th convenience store, at Wolverhampton.  This was one of 24 new convenience stores opened in the quarter, bringing the total for the half to 37 and delivering our target of one to two openings per week. We opened four new supermarkets and completed 12 extensions, adding 390,000 square feet of gross new space in the quarter and creating over 1,500 new jobs.  We continued our strategy of bringing the Sainsbury's brand into new markets, and opened our most northerly supermarket, in Nairn, Scotland, on the same day as a new supermarket 600 miles away in Dawlish, Devon. 

We are delighted that the efforts we make to deliver great value and service to our customers were recognised at the 2011 Retail Industry Awards.  For the fourth time in six years we were awarded Supermarket of the Year, and we were named Convenience Retailer of the Year for the second year running.    Our colleagues have a great deal to be proud of and we continue to invest in skills to ensure our continued success.

We expect the market environment to remain very competitive for the foreseeable future but we are confident in our ability to grow by doing a great job for our customers.  Through our unique combination of high quality own label ranges and commitment to delivering value we will continue to help our customers 'Live Well For Less'."

Enquiries:
Investor Relations	Media
Erica Judge	Mark Rigby/Ben Crowther
[phone]	[phone]

Notes

1.   All sales figures contained in this trading statement are stated including VAT and in accordance with IFRIC 13.

2. Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on     current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or accounting standard, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

3. Sainsbury's also released today its Second Quarter Corporate Responsibility update. This is available at www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/news.

4. A conference call will take place at 8:45am.  To listen to the audio webcast we recommend that you register in advance.  To do so please visit www.j-sainsbury.co.uk prior to the event and follow the on-screen instructions.  To view the transcript of the conference call, go to www.j-sainsbury.co.uk and follow the on-screen instructions of the second quarter trading statement section.

5. Sainsbury's will report its 2011/12 Interim Results on 9 November 2011.

6. Sainsbury's 2011/12 Third Quarter Trading Statement will reflect the 14 weeks ending 7 January 2012 and its 2011/12    

     Fourth Quarter Trading Statement will reflect the 10 weeks ending 17 March 2012.

2011/12	Q1	Q2	H1
Sales growth including fuel (%)
Total	7.3	7.8	7.6
Like-for-like	4.8	5.4	5.1
Sales growth excluding fuel (%)
Total	4.3	4.4	4.3
Like-for-like	1.9	1.9	1.9

 

END

 

 

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