REG - Sainsbury(J) PLC - Trading Statement <Origin Href="QuoteRef">SBRY.L</Origin>

J SainsburyAnnouncement

06/09/2014 02:10

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RNS Number : 3409J
Sainsbury(J) PLC
11 June 2014 
 
11 June 2014 
 
First Quarter Trading Statement for 12 weeks to 7 June 2014 
 
Continued growth in a challenging market 
 
·     Total Retail sales for first quarter up 1.0 per cent (ex fuel), down 0.3
per cent (inc fuel) 
 
·     Like-for-like Retail sales for first quarter down 1.1 per cent (ex
fuel), down 2.4 per cent (inc fuel) 
 
·     Winner of Grocer 33 Customer Service and Availability Awards for the
second consecutive year 
 
Justin King, Chief Executive, said "Throughout the quarter we have continued
to invest in reducing prices and improving quality, increasing the value of
our offer.  Lower food price inflation and reduced fuel prices are a welcome
respite to customers' finances but they continue to spend cautiously, leading
to industry growth in the quarter being the slowest in a decade. 
 
Brand Matchcontinues to reassure our customers that we remain competitive on
price for their branded shop.  Once again, over 50 per cent of the vouchers
issued confirm to our customers that their branded shop was the same price or
cheaper.  Recent changes from £20 spend to 10 items makes it even easier for
our customers to take advantage of Brand Match. 
 
We continue to invest in the quality of our product offer. Own-brand remains a
key point of difference, with our Taste the Difference range performing
particularly strongly in the quarter, with sales up nearly 10 per cent.  This
Easter we launched our first by Sainsbury's Easter eggs, more than doubling
our own-brand market share to 40 per cent1.  We also successfully completed
the trial of our first in-store scratch bakery in a convenience store and we
continue to support British farmers by using British flour and cream in the
one million products we bake from scratch every day. 
 
At the same time service levels in our stores remain industry leading.  Strong
availability throughout the day, combined with great in store standards and
colleague engagement with our customers serves to highlight our differentiated
offer. We are delighted that these high service levels have again been
recognised, winning the Grocer 33 Customer Service and Availability Awards for
the second year in a row. 
 
Our general merchandise and clothing businesses continued to grow strongly in
the quarter with clothing in particular performing well delivering
double-digit like-for-like sales growth.  We have also announced a trial of a
new online clothing offer, increasing the reach of our clothing business to
customers across the country.  Entertainment has also seen good growth,
supported by new releases in the quarter including Disney's "Frozen", where
our market share exceeded 20 per cent in the first week of release. 
 
Our complementary channels and services are an increasingly important
component of our growth, with sales from convenience and online nearly
doubling over the last five years to 15 per cent of total sales.  Convenience
sales grew by over 18 per cent year-on-year and during the quarter we opened
our 200th convenience store in London.  Groceries online grew by over 10 per
cent year-on-year, following the roll-out of our new and improved web and
mobile platforms which was completed in April.  Sainsbury's Bank's transition
remains on track and during the quarter we opened our 1,500th ATM and launched
two new credit cards. 
 
During the quarter we opened 27 new convenience stores and refurbished a
further 12 convenience stores.  We opened one supermarket extension, and
refurbished three supermarkets.  We remain on track to deliver around two new
convenience stores per week and around 750,000 square feet of new space this
year. 
 
We expect customer spending to remain cautious and we will continue to invest
to keep our offer competitive to help customers balance their household
budget.  We remain confident that our clear strategy and differentiated offer
will allow us to continue to outperform our supermarket peers through the
remainder of the year." 
 
 Investor Relations    Media                 
 Mike Scott            Trevor Datson         
 +44 (0) 20 7695 0080  +44 (0) 20 7695 7295  
 
 
_________________________________________________ 
 
1 Kantar Worldpanel , Confectionery Database, data to 27 April 2014 
 
1.    All sales figures contained in this trading statement include VAT and
are in accordance with IFRIC 13. 
 
2.    Like-for-like sales include the impact of extensions as follows: 
 
                                   FY 2013/14  Q1     
 Sales growth including fuel                          
 Total                             2.7%        -0.3%  
 Like-for-like                     0.0%        -2.4%  
                                                      
 Sales growth excluding fuel                          
 Total                             2.7%        1.0%   
 Like-for-like                     0.2%        -1.1%  
                                                      
 Included in like-for-like sales                      
 Net contribution from extensions  0.2%        0.2%   
 
 
3.    Store investment programme 2014/15: 
 
                 Q1  
 Supermarkets        
 New             -   
 Replacements    -   
 Extensions      1   
 Refurbishments  3   
 Closures        -   
                     
 Convenience         
 New             27  
 Closures        -   
 Refurbishments  12  
 
 
At the end of the quarter, we had 592 supermarkets and 638 convenience
stores. 
 
4. Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking
statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in
these forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law,
regulation or accounting standard, we do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise. 
 
5. Sainsbury's also released today its First Quarter Corporate Responsibility
update. This is available at
www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/investor-centre/results-and-presentations/ 
 
6. A conference call will take place at 8:30am.  To listen to the audio
webcast we recommend that you register in advance.  To do so please visit
www.j-sainsbury.co.ukprior to the event and follow the on-screen instructions.
 To view the transcript of the conference call go to www.j-sainsbury.co.uk and
follow the on-screen instructions in the First Quarter Trading Statement
section. 
 
7. Sainsbury's will announce its Second Quarter Trading Statement on 1 October
2014. 
 
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange