Sainsbury’s posts fall in profits amid consumer cost measures

Sainsbury’s has seen its statutory pre-tax profits drop 62% to £327m, down from £854m the previous year, during the 52-week period ended 4 March.

The supermarket giant attributed the decrease to the more than £560m it spent on ensuring prices for consumers remained as low as possible.

However, group revenues increased 5.3% to £31.49bn and its underlying profit only dropped 5% to £690m, which was towards the top end of its guidance.

For the year ahead the company expects profits between £640m and £700m, which is ahead of the analysts’ average forecast of £631m.

Simon Roberts, CEO, said: “We really get how tough life is for so many households right now which is why we are absolutely determined to battle inflation for our customers. Our focus on value has never been greater and we have spent over £560 million keeping our prices low over the last two years.

“As a result, we are now the best value compared to our competitors that we have been in many years and we are delivering improved market share performance in Sainsbury’s and Argos.”

He added: “We are two years into our plan to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and have focused our efforts on reducing costs right across the business, which has enabled us to make the right decisions for our colleagues and customers.

“Our colleagues do a fantastic job serving our customers every day and we know that they are also dealing with the impact of the rising cost of living. That’s why, over the last 12 months, we took the decision to invest £225 million in supporting colleagues including raising colleague pay three times, becoming the first major supermarket to pay our people the Living Wage across the whole country and providing free food at work and increased colleague discount.”