Following the issue of Sainsbury’s latest trading figures, the supermarket has reported a “good grocery performance”, with sales down 2.4% against last year’s Covid-19 driven levels and 8.7% ahead of pre-pandemic sales.

Chief executive of J Sainsbury plc, Simon Roberts, said that current pressures on household budgets will “only intensify over the remainder of the year”, as the supermarket invests £500 million over two years to curb the impact for customers.

The latest report noted that Sainsbury’s 2022/3 financial outlook remains unchanged as the company continues to expect underlying profit before tax of between £630 million and £690 million.

The company said that its ‘value index’ against Aldi, as part of its Aldi Price Match campaign, has delivered its strongest ever performance, improving 350 basis points year-on-year. Sainsbury’s also claims to have held more ‘Price Lock’ items at “stable prices than any of [its] four big competitors.”

Strong performance

Commenting on the company’s quarterly trading report, Roberts said that the supermarket is doing everything it can to keep prices low, especially on the products customers buy most often. He said: “Our customers are watching every penny and every pound, but they also look to Sainsbury’s when they want to treat themselves, particularly at special occasions.

“We are really connected to our customers and through strong delivery of our plan, we have outperformed the market at key events such as the Jubilee.”

Roberts went onto thank staff for their “brilliant efforts” over the last quarter. He added that the company was proud to the first major supermarket to pay the Living Wage to all staff, and explained that the company has increased Sainsbury’s staff pay by 25% over the past five years.