Sales are looking good for the supermarket chain…
Sainsbury’s saw sales sky rocket over the Christmas period and managed to rake in more than £1bn.
Like-for-like sales rose by 0.1 per cent in the 15 weeks to the 7 January.
The supermarket giant beat analyst expectations of a fall in sales, they predicted a 0.8 per cent decline.
Chief executive, Mike Coup, said the “market remains very competitive and the impact of the devaluation of sterling remains uncertain”.
The pound has been hit heavily since the UK voted to leave in the EU Referendum. The fall in the stirling could bring problems such as higher prices and increased import costs.
One of the supermarkets competitors, Lidl, saw a 10 per cent rise in sales over the festive period.
Sainsbury’s bought Argos last year and the company also did well over Christmas and Black Friday.
Argos saw a rise in its third quarter with like-for-like sales of four per cent. Sainsbury’s has also been adding Argos stores to its own supermarkets.
Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said Argos had “pulled Sainsbury’s up by its bootstraps over the Christmas trading period.”
“However, against a backdrop of food deflation, flat sales are a pyrrhic victory for the supermarket, and represent an improvement on performance so far this financial year.”
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