Sainsbury hails coupon success as profits rise
J SAINSBURY said yesterday that its discount coupons and price matching scheme had helped it outperform the market as the UK’s third largest grocer posted a seven per cent rise in full-year profit.
Chief executive Justin King brushed aside concerns over mounting competition from the likes of Waitrose’s new brand match scheme saying its own Brand Match remained “head and shoulders” ahead of rivals.
King also defended the company’s decision to slow its store expansion programme, saying it was not “calling the top of the market”, adding that a five per cent growth rate was still its fourth biggest growth rate in its history.
Profit before tax was £712m in the year to 17 March, at the top end of analyst estimates, while the dividend was increased 6.6 per cent to 16.1p.
Sainsbury’s said like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 2.1 per cent while overall sales rose 6.8 per cent to £24.bn, as its market share climbed to 16 per cent – the highest for nearly a decade.
hares rose 1.3 per cent to 305.3p.