Sainsbury's profits soar

The Guardian is reporting today that Sainsbury's, Britain's No 3 supermarket, beat forecasts with a 5.4% rise in first-half profit, helped by the development of its online and convenience stores business, the two fastest growing grocery channels in the UK.

The story says that the group, which has permission to build a store in Llangollen and has enjoyed 31 consecutive quarters of underlying sales growth, is continuing to outshine industry leader Tesco, which last month posted a 12.4% fall in first-half UK trading profit. No 2 player Asda is due to update on its third quarter on Thursday.

Sainsbury's said on Wednesday it made profit before tax and one-off items of £373m ($593m) in the 28 weeks to 29 September.

That compares with analysts' consensus forecast of £371m, according to a company poll, and £354m made in the same period last year.

First-half sales rose 4% to £13.37bn as Sainsbury's outperformed the market, increasing its share to 16.7%, the highest for nearly a decade.

Last month, the firm posted better-than-expected second quarter underlying sales growth.

Sainsbury's said online sales grew at over 20% and it opened 49 convenience stores during the period.

+ You can see the story at
The Guardian is reporting today that Sainsbury's, Britain's No 3 supermarket, beat forecasts with a 5.4% rise in first-half profit, helped by the development of its online and convenience stores business, the two fastest growing grocery channels in the UK.

The story says that the group, which has permission to build a store in Llangollen and has enjoyed 31 consecutive quarters of underlying sales growth, is continuing to outshine industry leader Tesco, which last month posted a 12.4% fall in first-half UK trading profit. No 2 player Asda is due to update on its third quarter on Thursday.

Sainsbury's said on Wednesday it made profit before tax and one-off items of £373m ($593m) in the 28 weeks to 29 September.

That compares with analysts' consensus forecast of £371m, according to a company poll, and £354m made in the same period last year.

First-half sales rose 4% to £13.37bn as Sainsbury's outperformed the market, increasing its share to 16.7%, the highest for nearly a decade.

Last month, the firm posted better-than-expected second quarter underlying sales growth.

Sainsbury's said online sales grew at over 20% and it opened 49 convenience stores during the period.

+ You can see the story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/14/sainsburys-beats-forecasts-profit-tesco