Sainsbury’s grocery segment posted a 9.4% sales growth in FY 2023/2024. Credit: J Sainsbury.

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has announced a significant 6.8% increase in retail sales for the fiscal year 2023/2024 (FY 2023/2024), reaching £30.61bn ($38.24bn) compared with £28.66bn in FY 2022/2023. 

The company’s grocery sector led the charge with a 9.4% sales increase while general merchandise saw a modest 1.2% rise. However, clothing sales experienced a 6.4% decline over the year. 

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The retailer’s underlying operating profit for the 52 weeks ending on 2 March 2024 was £966m, marking a 4.3% increase from £926m in the prior year.  

This profit boost was driven by grocery profit growth and cost savings, although it was partially offset by weaker General Merchandise profits. 

Sainsbury’s underlying profit before tax stood at £701m for FY 2023/24, a slight 1.6% increase from £690m in 2022/2023.   

However, the statutory profit before tax fell by 15.3% to £277m from £327m a year ago. 

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Its basic earnings per share for the fiscal was 5.9p, a 34.4% decline from 9.0p in 2022/2023. 

The company’s net debt, including leases, was reduced by £790m to £5,554m, thanks to robust cash generation and a significant property transaction. 

Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said: “We said we’d put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and that’s what we’ve done. Our food business is firing on all cylinders. We have the best combination of value and quality in the market and that’s winning us customers from all our key competitors, driving consistent volume market share growth as more customers choose us for their weekly shop and all their special occasions. 

The retailer forecasts strong profit growth in the coming year and plans to outpace the market in grocery volumes, leveraging profit growth.  

With additional contributions from Nectar and a resilient Argos performance, coupled with ongoing cost savings, Sainsbury’s projects a retail underlying operating profit between £1.01bn and £1.060bn, equating to a growth of 5%-10%.