Sainsbury's profits up 16% and digital business turns over £1bn reports CEO Justin King in his final financial statement
Sainsbury’s has reported record annual profits, noting a pre-tax profits growth of 16.3 per cent to £898m for the 52 weeks to 15 March.
Overall, retail sales were up 2.7 per cent but Sainsbury’s recorded a double digit growth for its convenience business, delivering a sales growth of around 19 per cent.
Similarly, its online grocery business grew sales by over 12 per cent and achieved over £1bn in annual sales.
Last year, Sainsbury’s invested heavily in the relaunch of its Tu clothing brand and also said in the statement that it has seen annual sales of approximately £750m from the brand.
Commenting on the results, CEO Justin King – who is set to step down from his role in July this year – acknowledged that retailers like Lidl and Aldi were disrupting the market and that conditions will remain “challenging”.
"In a competitive retail environment we have focused on delivering high quality, affordable own-brand products across all our channels, helping customers to Live Well for Less,” he said.
"While the general economic outlook is showing some signs of improvement, conditions in the food retail sector are likely to remain challenging for the foreseeable future as customers continue to spend cautiously. We remain confident that our differentiated offer, supported by the 'value of values', Nectar data and Brand Match, will allow us to outperform our peers in the year ahead.”
King will be replaced by Mike Coupe, currently group commercial director.