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| Sainsbury's throws down gauntlet to Tesco with strong Christmas sales | Sainsbury's throws down gauntlet to Tesco with strong Christmas sales |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Sainsbury's, Britain's third largest supermarket, has boasted it will emerge from the Christmas trading season as the "clear winner" even though its growth slowed during the festive selling frenzy. | Sainsbury's, Britain's third largest supermarket, has boasted it will emerge from the Christmas trading season as the "clear winner" even though its growth slowed during the festive selling frenzy. |
| The company unveiled its 32nd consecutive quarter of underlying sales growth with sales at stores open over a year exactly matching analysts' expectations by rising 0.9%, excluding fuel, in the 14 weeks to 5 January. However, the figure was down from growth of 1.9% in the previous quarter. | The company unveiled its 32nd consecutive quarter of underlying sales growth with sales at stores open over a year exactly matching analysts' expectations by rising 0.9%, excluding fuel, in the 14 weeks to 5 January. However, the figure was down from growth of 1.9% in the previous quarter. |
| The chief executive, Justin King, said: "We are very content with 0.9%. When the reporting season is over we'll emerge clearly as the winner." | The chief executive, Justin King, said: "We are very content with 0.9%. When the reporting season is over we'll emerge clearly as the winner." |
| The Sainsbury's figures are far better than those of rival Morrisons, which was hit by its lack of a home delivery service and suffered a 2.5% drop in its festive sales. | The Sainsbury's figures are far better than those of rival Morrisons, which was hit by its lack of a home delivery service and suffered a 2.5% drop in its festive sales. |
| King added that the slowing growth was explained partly by comparisons with a strong Christmas last year and said: "Tesco had a very significant decline in 2011. It sounds like there is some positive response this year. For Morrisons it is the opposite." | |
| Figures from market researchers Kantar Worldpanel revealed that Sainsbury's was the only big player that managed to boost market share compared with the previous year, inching up by 0.1% to 17.1%. It is, however, still trailing Tesco, which dominates the field, with 30.5% of the market. | |
| King, who dismissed speculation he may be looking to move on after nine years leading the grocer, added: "The week before Christmas was our strongest trading week ever, with customer transactions exceeding 27m. We saw a record-breaking £16m of sales in one hour between 12pm and 1pm on Sunday 23 December and experienced our best ever Christmas Eve, at both our supermarket and convenience stores, with over £100m of sales." Total third-quarter sales rose 3.3%, excluding fuel. | |
| Many of Britain's grocers are finding the going tough, despite their focus on essential goods, as consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on real incomes. | Many of Britain's grocers are finding the going tough, despite their focus on essential goods, as consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on real incomes. |
| Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said Sainsbury had "thrown down the gauntlet to Tesco" ahead of the trading update from Britain's biggest retailer on Thursday. | Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said Sainsbury had "thrown down the gauntlet to Tesco" ahead of the trading update from Britain's biggest retailer on Thursday. |
| "Record customer visitors in the lead-up to Christmas were accompanied by strong double-digit percentage growth in both the convenience and online channels, where the company is already well established," said Hunter. "On the downside, Tesco's determination to bounce back is palpable – if yet unproven – whilst the company has suffered a slight downturn compared to the Olympics-led previous quarter. The quest for the cost-conscious consumer remains intense, although at the current time Sainsbury is holding its own." | "Record customer visitors in the lead-up to Christmas were accompanied by strong double-digit percentage growth in both the convenience and online channels, where the company is already well established," said Hunter. "On the downside, Tesco's determination to bounce back is palpable – if yet unproven – whilst the company has suffered a slight downturn compared to the Olympics-led previous quarter. The quest for the cost-conscious consumer remains intense, although at the current time Sainsbury is holding its own." |