29/03/2006

Sainsbury's sales recovery continues

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's has reported another rise in sales for the January to March period - the chain's fifth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth.

The chain, the third largest supermarket in the UK, reported a 5.3% rise in like-for-like sales - excluding petrol - during the period.

Sainsbury's also reported that customer numbers had also grown by over one million during the quarter and that over 1,000 prices had been reduced during the period in order to maintain and strengthen the chain's pricing position.

Commenting on the figures, Sainsbury's Chief Executive Justin King said: "This has been a significant quarter for Sainsbury's with like-for-like sales excluding petrol up 5.3% giving us our fifth consecutive quarter of sales growth.

"This is an important stage in our recovery and we are pleased that our progress is also confirmed by good market share growth over the same period of time. We have delivered a solid first year and are on track in our 'Making Sainsbury's Great Again' plan but still have a long way to go.

"The sales growth announced today shows that customers are noticing the many improvements we have been making to our business. Over 16 million customers are now shopping in our stores each week, an additional one million in the last six months."

Recent market share figures indicate that Sainsbury's share has increased to 16.2%, just behind second-placed supermarket chain Asda, which has 16.6%. Market leader Tesco has a 30.4% share of the grocery market.

(KMcA)


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