Sainsbury’s predicts profits to hit £1bn

Sainsbury’s has posted a pre-tax profit of £701m, an increase of 1.6% for the year ended 2 March 2024.

As a result, the company expects an underlying profit of £1.06bn for the 2024-2025 period, up from the £966m it posted this year.

The company saw a 6.8% rise in retail sales, excluding fuel as a result of a 9.4% uplift in grocery sales.

Its general merchandise sales, including Argos, saw its sales drop 0.5% while its clothing sales dropped 6.4%.

Sainsbury’s stated that its strategy of matching Aldi’s prices via its Nectar card scheme was driving its strong results.

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done. Our food business is firing on all cylinders. 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.

“We’ve done that by relentlessly investing in price; £780 million over the past three years. We know it’s still tough out there for so many households and we’re doing all we can to save money right across our business to keep prices low – we have reduced 4,000 products over the last year alone.”

He added: “Nectar Prices has also been a game changer for customers, saving them £12 on a typical £80 shop. And we’re not compromising on quality: we’ve doubled our rate of innovation and Taste the Difference is performing especially well.

“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. I want to say a big thank you to all our colleagues and suppliers for all their hard work in delivering another record year. The business has real momentum and we’re excited by our goal of making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.”