RECOVERY

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has notched up a sales recovery as rising food price inflation and strong demand for clothing offset a weaker performance from its Argos business.

The group said inflation, together with this year’s later Mother’s Day and Easter, helped drive like-for-like first quarter sales including Argos up by 2.3 per cent in a marked bounce back on the 0.3 per cent seen in the previous three months.

Bosses said demand for deals on British strawberries and summer fare provided a boost to grocery sales, which jumped 3 per cent, while the group also saw 1.9 per cent growth in the number of transactions at its tills.

Clothing sales increased by 7.2 per cent in the 16 weeks to 1 July, although general merchandise sales growth including Argos slowed to 1 per cent from 1.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, cheered a “strong” first quarter.

He said the group had

0 Sainsbury’s grew its retail footprint through the acquisition of Argos

“No longer leaning precariously on the Argos crutch, the Sainsbury’s core business is back on its feet and growing food sales at a healthy clip”

JOHN IBBOTSON, ANALYST worked with suppliers in an effort to keep a lid on inflation, which has been sent soaring as the Brexit-hit pound has impacted the price of imported goods. “The market is competitive and we continue to manage cost price pressures closely,” he told investors.

John Ibbotson, director of retail consultancy Retail Vision, said: “It’s little short of a Lazarus moment. No longer leaning precariously on the Argos crutch, the Sainsbury’s core business is back on its feet and growing food sales at a healthy clip. These results are the first to blur the progress of the two brands since last year’s acquisition – but Sainsbury’s no longer needs to hide behind Argos’s success.

“The 3 per cent growth in grocery sales is an impressive return to form for a brand which for years had dodged the bloodletting unleashed at the cheaper end of the market by the arrival of the discounters.

“With the Argos brand continuing to fire on all cylinders, Mike Coupe’s acquisition gamble