Sainsbury’s reports Q3 sales drop despite increased market share

Market competition in the run-up to Christmas and lower fuel sales during the period have dampened Sainsbury’s third-quarter performance.

While overall sales were up 0.8% (excluding fuel) in the 15 weeks to January 9, sales declined by 0.7% when the supermarket’s fuel business is taken into account.

Despite the drop, Sainsbury’s did report a year-on-year customer increase of 2.6% over the seven days leading up to Christmas, with 30m shoppers choosing the London-headquartered supermarket over its competitors.

The company’s chief executive, Mike Coupe, said: “We have traded well during the festive period in a highly competitive market.

“Our stores delivered excellent levels of service and availability and we launched several new seasonal products and range improvements. As a result we have seen our market share grow in the quarter.”

Sainsbury’s opened 16 new convenience stores during Q3, which means its UK-wide network of shops now comprises 600 supermarkets and 757 convenience stores.

Elsewhere, the company saw the biggest day for convenience sales in its 147-year history on December 24, while online grocery sales saw close to 10% growth and online orders rose by 15%.

Mr Coupe was upbeat about the coming year. He continued: “Given our good performance in this quarter, we now expect our like-for-like sales in the second half of the year to be better than the first.

“Food deflation and pressures on pricing will ensure that the market remains challenging for the foreseeable future.”

He added: “We will continue to remain competitive on price and our performance this quarter provides further evidence that our strategy is working.”