Sainsbury’s forecast to deliver ‘strong’ profit growth

Sainsbury’s have announced they are expecting to deliver “strong” profit growth after more customers are leaving their rivals.

The supermarket giant posted a 1.6% rise in underlying pre-tax profits in the year to 2 March to £701 million sales increased 7.3% in the fourth quarter then 9.4% over the year.

Argos sales were down 6.6% and their clothing range fell by 11.7% in the fourth quarter.

Underlying retail operating profits have been pencilled in for between £1.01 billion and £1.06 billion.

The group said, “We are confident of delivering strong profit growth in the year ahead.

“We expect to continue to grow grocery volumes ahead of the market, driving profit leverage.”

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said, “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done.”

Roberts added, “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.”