Sainsbury’s has beat profit expectations for the year as it claims to be winning customers from its rivals.
For the year to 2 March 2024, the grocery retailer delivered underlying pre-tax profits of £701m, up 1.6% on the previous year’s £690m, and ahead of company expectations of between £670m and £700m.
Sainsbury’s said its food business was “firing on all cylinders” as its grocery sales rose 9.4% over the period.
The supermarket giant has unveiled “ambitious guidance” for the year ahead, with underlying operating profits of between £1.01bn and £1.06bn forecast across its retail operations – equating to growth of between 5% and 10%.
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Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done. We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors, driving consistent volume market share growth as more customers choose us for their weekly shop and all their special occasions.”
Sainsbury’s said that it has been “gaining more volume from premium competitors than all other full-choice grocers”.
It claims to have done this by launching nearly 1,200 new products and delivered growth on its Taste the Difference offer of 12%, which is now proportionally the biggest premium own-label brand of the full-choice grocers.
Roberts explained that Sainsbury’s has also been “relentlessly investing in price”.
The grocer has invested £220m in price since March 2023 and £780m over the past three years, and has reduced 4,000 products over the past year alone.
Roberts added that Nectar Prices has “been a game changer for customers, saving them £12 on a typical £80 shop”.
“As we embark on our Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy, we’ll continue to make deliberate, balanced choices to support our customers, colleagues, communities and farmers. The business has real momentum and we’re excited by our goal of making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.”
