Grocer’s discount

7 January 2015 By Robert Cole

The British grocer had a relatively happy Christmas. Like-for-like sales fell 1.7 pct in its third quarter – a surprisingly strong performance in a brutal market. Much depends on the recovery plans of bigger rival Tesco. But Sainsbury’s shares look oversold.

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Total retail sales at J Sainsbury, Britain’s third-biggest grocer, fell 2.5 percent in the 14 weeks to Jan. 3.

Excluding fuel, which has fallen sharply in price in recent months, revenue fell 0.4 percent. On a like-for-like basis, excluding fuel, sales at the supermarket group were 1.7 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Sainsbury’s shares rose in early trading on Jan. 7 before reversing course. By 1020 GMT they stood 0.7 percent lower at 232.9 pence, after trading as high as 246 pence.

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