Sainsbury’s reports rise in revenues, but drop in profits
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has reported that its half-year revenues were up 17% at £16,310m – primarily reflecting the full consolidation of Argos into the group – but the underlying profit before tax was down 9% at £251m.
One of the highlights of the half-year was the company’s strong growth in online groceries, which saw an increase of 7% on last year.
In a statement issued today (9 November) Mike Coupe, Group Chief Executive, said that the group had “delivered a good perform”.
Coupe also said that the Sainsbury/Argos synergy was progressing.
“We are integrating Argos at pace,” said Coupe. “We have 112 Argos stores open in Sainsbury’s supermarkets and will have 165 open by Christmas, in addition to nearly 200 digital collection points across our stores. We are rolling out Click & Collect for Argos and Tu clothing to 100 Sainsbury’s Locals and Argos Fast Track same-day delivery and collection are now our fastest growing channels. We are on track to deliver our £160 million EBITDA synergy target from the Argos acquisition six months ahead of schedule.
