Record-Breaking Grocery Volume Growth
Sainsbury's achieved the biggest market share gains in the industry for big basket main weekly shop customers, with a grocery growth of 5% despite inflation. This is attributed to quality, service, and value improvements, with customer perception of value up 8.5 percentage points year-on-year.
Strong Financial Performance and Profit Leverage
Sainsbury's reported a retail underlying operating profit growth of 3.7% year-on-year to £503 million, driven by a strong increase in grocery volumes and an 8.7% growth in Sainsbury's profit contribution, well ahead of sales growth of 4.6%.
Expansion Plans and Strategic Investments
Sainsbury's is expanding its supermarket coverage with the acquisition of 11 Homebase stores and two Co-op stores, aiming to open 20 new supermarkets by March 2026. These investments are expected to deliver a return on capital employed in the low teens.
Financial Services Division Success
The underlying operating profit for Financial Services grew by 38% to £18 million. The company expects to deliver total annual income from Financial Services of at least £40 million by the financial year ending March 2028.