Four ways Sainsbury’s is holding firm as it braces for price war
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Sainsbury’s has forecast flat retail profits of £1bn for its forthcoming year, down slightly from the £1.036bn it pulled in during the year to 1 March, as chief executive Simon Roberts vowed to defend the supermarket’s “strong competitive position” amid a possible price war in the sector.
“We’re in the strongest place we’ve ever been, and we intend to stay there,” says the boss of the UK’s second-largest grocery chain.
“We’ve spent the last four years resetting our pricing and we’ve learned a huge amount as we’ve done that. The one billion guidance gives us all the capacity we need to make sure that, above all else, we can sustain the strength of our competitive position,” he adds.
Roberts’ comments come after Tesco wiped £400m off its profit expectations last week to give it more wriggle room to cut prices after Asda signalled the start of a potential price war in March.
“This market remains highly competitive, but as we look ahead, we really believe that our winning combination of great value, quality products and the brilliant customer service that our colleagues deliver day in day out […] will keep delivering for us,” notes Roberts.
But what exactly has the Sainsbury’s chief executive feeling so confident that the chain can hold its own in the endlessly competitive UK grocery sector?
