Sainsbury’s to reach top profit guidance as it gears up for strong Christmas period

Sainsbury’s is gearing up for a strong Christmas trading period as it expects to see underlying profit before tax between £670m and £700m in the 2023/24 financial year – the upper half of its previous guidance range.

However, underlying pre-tax profit was flat at £340m for the half to 16 September and on a statutory basis, the supermarket giant saw profit fall 27%.

Despite this, grocery sales were up 10.1% and like-for-like retail sales excluding fuel, rose by 8.4%.

Sainsbury’s said it has been gaining volume from all of its grocery competitors and has made record market share gains.

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Sainsbury’s chief executive, Simon Roberts, 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.”

He added that as food inflation is coming down, Sainsbury’s is passing savings onto customers.

Since March, the retailer has invested £118m in lowering prices and its has rolled out Nectar Prices across all supermarkets and to online groceries.

“We’ve rolled out Nectar Prices to over 6,000 products and the vast majority of customers are now shopping with Nectar, saving over £450 million since April.”

Looking ahead to the Christmas period, Roberts said that Sainsbury’s is offering “fantastic value and more delicious new food than ever before.”

“As we head into this key trading period, we are encouraged by our strong momentum and we remain fully focused on delivering for customers and shareholders.”