One of Sainsbury's supermarkets. (Photo Credit: Gary Reggae CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sainsbury's overshadows Tesco with a pick-up in sales

Britain's third biggest supermarket retailer, Sainsbury's, has outperformed Tesco after its quarterly sales showed a rising trend over the summer.

This is a direct result of a 2 per cent growth in supermarket sales and of its online sales -- including those of its own brand food and clothing range, without considering fuel sales -- in the 16 weeks to 28 September, the BBC reported.

Sainsbury's Chief Executive, Justin King, pointed out that: "If we are growing our sales it gives us the flexibility to invest in our business wherever that might be – prices, service, availability and so on."

He added that he was confident that the chain would continue to grow and he played down the prospective threat posed by discounter rivals such as German Aldi, which is planning to open 50 new outlets in the UK in 2013.

Some analysts have doubted Sainsbury's ability to turn growth into profits, but King said he expected to meet market expectations when the chain discloses those financial results later this year. "The market expects us to have grown profits in the first half and we expect to meet the market expectations," the CEO went on to say.

On the other hand, Tesco, formerly Britain's leading hypermarket chain, has made the current credit crunch responsible for its latest financial results.

Market researchers are of the opinion that Sainsbury's was the only one of Britain's 'big four' supermarket chains to have increased its market share over the past twelve months.

Profits at Tesco have fallen by nearly 25 per cent in the first half of this year, underscoring the challenge the UK's largest supermarket faces in winning back customers, The Guardian reported. The giant retailer reported its sales remained flat in the second quarter.

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By Gabriela Raffaele
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