GRAHAM HISCOTT Sainsbury’s stages summer comeback Strong new trading by grocery chain

SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury’s has had its best spell for nearly a year.

Mike Coupe, the chain’s boss, had been under pressure after a mega-merger with rival Asda was blocked and sales suffered.

But new figures published by industry data firm Kantar showed Sainsbury’s had enjoyed its strongest trading since October 2018.

Sales still dipped 0.1% over the past 12 weeks and its market share fell to 15.3%, from 15.4% a year ago.

But it outperformed its biggest competitors, with Tesco’s sales down 1.4%, Asda down 1% and Morrisons falling by 2%.

Kantar said: “Sainsbury’s increased its rate of sales on promotion faster than any other retailer with its Price Lockdown strategy lowering prices on meat and fresh produce in particular.”

Meanwhile, Morrisons’ market share has fallen from 10.2% to 9.9% in the past year and it is being quickly caught by booming Aldi, whose share of total takings has jumped from 7.6% to 8.1%.

The discount chain this week announced plans to open a store a week over the next two years, which risks further narrowing the gap with Morrisons.

Bradford-based Morrisons is seen as vulnerable to a takeover bid, especially given the slump in its share price.

Spending on groceries grew by 0.5% over the past three months but volume – the number of products bought – fell.

Fraser Mckevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, said it dispelled Brexit-related reports from elsewhere.

“As we move closer to October 31, it seems talk about stockpiling might be just that because we’re not seeing any evidence of it at the moment,” he said. “In fact, households bought 0.9% fewer items during the past 12 weeks than they did last year.” Oil = $65.43

Struggling fashion firm French Connection saw sales plunge 12.1% to £51million in the six months to the end of July. The once booming chain blamed store closures and the timing of shipments to wholesale customers. Founder Stephen Marks focused after another, in Andover, Hampshire, was destroyed by a fire earlier this year. The firm has struck a separate deal with Marks & Spencer to provide the high street chain with a home delivery service by September 2020. on sales in its own stores open at least a year, which rose 1.4%, with half-year losses narrowing from £15.1m to £4.7m. But the update spooked investors, with its battered share price tumbling as it extended a possible sale of the business until the end of January. GINGHAM STYLE French Connection dress

The boss of housebuilding giant Barratt Developments pocketed a £3.6million pay-and-perks package last year. The payout to David Thomas included £2.6m in bonuses. The windfall came after Barratt’s annual pre-tax profits jumped almost 9% to £909m. Thomas’s package was equivalent to 144 times the £24,964 a year which think tank the High Pay Centre says the average construction worker earns.