LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is forecasting full-year profit at the high end of its forecast after posting sales growth of 5.9% in the last three months of 2022.
The group, which has a 15.5% share of the UK grocery market, had previously forecast underlying pre-tax profit for the 2022-23 fiscal year of between £630m and £690m (£713m). 781 million euros), compared to 730 million pounds in 2021-22.
Analysts were expecting an average of 644 million pounds, according to a consensus established by the company.
Sainsbury’s said total sales in the 16 weeks to January 7, excluding fuel, rose 5.2%, reflecting inflation and “relatively resilient volume trends.”
Food sales rose 5.6%, while general merchandise sales beat expectations by increasing 4.6%.
“Investment in value, innovation, service and product availability has helped to reinforce volume trends in the food and general merchandise sectors, particularly at Christmas,” said managing director Simon Roberts.
“We remain attentive to the context of consumption,” he added, however.
UK consumers face the prospect of even greater pressure on their finances in 2023, with higher tax and credit rates and reduced government support for household energy bills.
(Report James Davey, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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