Sainsbury’s predicts profit to exceed £1bn as Aldi price-matching pays off

Sainsbury’s expects profits to exceed £1bn this year as it continues to win shoppers with its loyalty card and its Aldi price matching schemes. 

The board of Britain’s second largest supermarket predicted the figure would reach between £1.01bn and £1.06bn, marking growth of between five per cent and ten per cent.

As the cost of living crisis has led shoppers to favour affordable goods, Sainsbury’s said it has spent £220m since last March driving down prices for customers. 

This attributed to the 9.4 per cent grocery sales growth it recorded during its full year results. Total retail sales also grew 6.8 per cent over the 12 months to £30.6bn. 

Over 600 products stocked across its 1,442 shops in the UK now match the price of Aldi, the German discounter which has won customers hearts amid the economic squeeze. 

Shoppers can also save on around 7,000 products when using Sainsbury’s Nectar Card loyalty scheme. 

Group sales, which include its 300 petrol sites, grew by 3.4 per cent to £36bn. 

Chief Simon Roberts said Sainsbury’s had the best “combination of value and quality in the market”. 

“We’ve done that by relentlessly investing in price; £780 million over the past three years. We know it’s still tough out there for so many households and we’re doing all we can to save money right across our business to keep prices low – we have reduced 4,000 products over the last year alone.”

In February, Roberts said over 1,500 jobs in roles such as call centres, warehouses, in-store bakeries would be cut as part of a plan to reduce costs by £1bn. 

Sainsbury’s is moving towards a ‘food first’ strategy which will also see the amount of general merchandise it sells reduced. 

The amount of standalone Argos stores it operates will also be cut and brought into Sainsbury’s stores. 

Shares were down over one per cent in early trade.