J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) said it will save more than £500mn per year following the business rates holiday announced by the government yesterday.
In a statement, Sainsbury’s said its total UK business rates bill was £567m in the financial year to 9 March 2019, of which £500mln related to its stores.
The rate holiday was part of a £330bn emergency package unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to try to stop the UK economy going into complete meltdown due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Part of the package was that all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England get a 100% business rates holiday for the next 12 months.
In a separate statement, Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) said it was waiting for further details of how the new policy would be applied.