J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) enjoyed a bumper Christmas and third quarter, and now expects full-year profits to be towards the upper end of guidance.
The flagship food retailer said Christmas and third quarter grocery volume performance were ahead of the market for the third consecutive year, driven by investment in value, innovation, service and availability.
In a trading statement, the FTSE 100-listed company said Christmas sales for the six weeks to 7 January 2023 rose 7.1%, with grocery sales up 7.1%, general merchandise sales up 7.4% and clothing sales up 5.1%.
Overall, quarter three sales for the 16 weeks to 7 January (excluding fuel) rose 5.2% with like-for-like sales up 5.9%, reflecting inflation and relatively resilient volume trends, the company said.
As a result pre-tax profits for the year to March 2023 are expected to be towards the upper end of the guidance range of £630mln to £690mln with retail free cash flow expected to be around £600mln, ahead of previous guidance of at least £500mln.
Sainsbury's said it would also benefit from finance costs being around £15mln lower than previously forecast, broadly offset by the cost of a significant colleague pay increase ahead of the year-end annual pay review.
The group reported a strong performance from its premium brand, Taste The Difference, with sales growth of 10%.
Taste the Difference mince pie sales advanced 22%, Taste the Difference Panettone sales jumped 49% while there were also record sales of champagne and prosecco.
In the ongoing battle for market share the company has extended the Aldi Price Match this January, now bigger than ever with around 300 products, including more than 180 fresh products and important household staples such as nappies, cereals and canned soups.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY), said: “We are working together with our suppliers to battle cost inflation and we're keeping prices low again this year with our biggest value campaign yet in January.”