11th Oct 2006 07:01
Sainsbury(J) PLC11 October 2006 11 October 2006 Second Quarter Trading Statement for 16 weeks to 7 October 2006 Highlights • Total sales for quarter two up 7.6 percent (8.0 percent excluding petrol)• Like-for-like sales for quarter two up 6.5 percent (6.6 percent excluding petrol)• Total sales for first half up 7.8 percent (7.4 percent excluding petrol) (2)• Like-for-like sales for first half up 6.8 percent (6.2 percent excluding petrol) (2)• Recovery remains on track Justin King, chief executive, said: "We have continued our good salesperformance during the second quarter of the year and have benefited from spellsof good weather and the focus this places on fresh and healthy food.Like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, were up 6.6 percent and we have againgrown sales ahead of the market (3). We have now reported like-for-like salesgrowth for seven consecutive quarters. In September our 'Try Something NewToday' branding passed its first anniversary. This is strengthening our brand'sheritage and focus on fresh, healthy and tasty food. We have continued todevelop and improve our product ranges and customers have respondedoverwhelmingly to our 'Try' ideas, trying a range of new and exciting products. "During the quarter we relaunched our premium range 'Taste the Difference'(TTD), introducing 250 new products bringing the total range to 1,100 lines. Therange has strict brand guidelines such as no artificial colours, flavours orhydrogenated fats and uses only free-range eggs and UK sourced meat. Ourmultiple traffic light nutritional label, the Wheel of Health, now appears onTTD products and is being introduced onto our 'Basic' products at the beginningof next year. This will continue to help customers make informed decisions inachieving a balanced diet throughout our product range. "As has been widely reported, this quarter has seen some significant pressure inthe market driven by increases in the cost of energy, commodities and freshproduce. Our grocery inflation for the quarter was significantly lower than theoverall market at 1.0 percent and therefore our relative price positioncontinued to improve during the period. For the first half, prices were, intotal, at the same level as the first half last year. Our good salesperformance continues to enable us to invest in our offer as we are committed toimproving our competitive position. "We are now delivering activity equipment as part of our 2006 Active Kidsprogramme. Over the past two years we will have donated £34 million of sportsequipment, kit and coaching benefiting 26,000 primary, secondary and specialneeds schools, as well as nurseries. "We have continued to develop our store estate. In the first half we haveextended five, downsized one and refurbished 32 supermarkets and opened sevennew stores, including the four acquired from Somerfield, which opened last week.Five additional supermarkets also acquired from Somerfield will open for tradingbefore Christmas. We introduced our complementary non-food range into 31supermarkets following successful trials last financial year. We opened tenconvenience stores and refurbished and converted a further 37. "Placing our priority on food, we believe Sainsbury's offers customers adifferent proposition to that of our major competitors. Our commitment totrading as part of the local community and alongside smaller traders was evidentin the welcome we received when we opened our new store in Upper Norwood inAugust. This approach was also fundamental to winning planning permission for a35,000 sq foot food-focused store in Urmston, Manchester. "As previously announced, we will experience a significant step up in our energycosts of around £55 million in the second half. We also face much tougher salesgrowth comparatives as we come up against the strong trading performance of overfive percent like-for-like growth achieved in the second half of 2005/06. Webelieve the market will remain highly competitive but our performance in thefirst half has given us good momentum as we enter the important Christmastrading period." Enquiries: Investor Relations MediaLynda Ashton Pip Wood+44 (0) 20 7695 7162 +44 (0) 20 7695 6127 Notes (1) Certain statements made in this announcement are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements.(2) Easter adjusted.(3) As measured by TNS on a 12 weekly basis compared with the previous year.(4) Sales growth is detailed below: 2006/07 Q1 Q2 H1 Sales growth including petrol (%)Total 8.1 7.6 7.8Lfl 7.1 6.5 6.8 Sales growth excluding petrol (%)Total 6.7 8.0 7.4Lfl 5.7 6.6 6.2 (5) Sainsbury's will announce its Interim results for the 28 weeks to 7 October 2006 on 15 November 2006. (6) A conference call will take place at 8.45 BST. To listen to the audio webcast we recommend that you register in advance. To do so please visit www.j-sainsbury.co.uk prior to the event and follow the on-screen instructions. To view the transcript of the conference call, go to www.j-sainsbury.co.uk on 16 October 2006. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Sainsbury's