UK supermarket group Sainsbury’s raised full-year profit forecasts despite a fall in underlying sales over Christmas.
The group on Wednesday said it now expected underlying profit before tax of at least £720m compared with previous guidance of at least £660m and £356m made in 2020-21.
Sainsbury’s said group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell 4.5% in its third quarter to January 8 year-on-year against a tough prior-year comparative when lockdowns were in force.
Grocery sales fell 1.1% year-on-year but were up 6.6% against the same period in 2019-20, before the pandemic struck and restrictions were imposed.
“Our expectations for full year profits are ahead of previous guidance, with investment in the customer proposition and higher operating cost inflation offset by structural cost savings and stronger than expected grocery volumes, driven in part by increased in-home grocery consumption,” the company said in a trading update.
