Sainsbury’s lags Big Four rivals

saInsbUry’s has been named the worst performing supermarket in britain just days after it suffered an embarrassing blow to its planned £14bn merger with asda.

sales at the grocer, which is the second-biggest in the UK, fell 1pc in the 12 weeks to February 24, data from shopper behaviour experts Kantar Worldpanel revealed.

sainsbury’s was the only supermarket chain to suffer a fall in sales over the period, with big 4 rivals Tesco, asda and morrison all growing. The latest figures are a further setback for sainsbury’s after the Competition and markets authority effectively blocked its tie-up with asda.

The likely collapse of the asda deal and falling sales have raised questions over the future of sainsbury’s chief executive mike Coupe. The 58-year-old has denied taking his eye off the ball, despite criticism over messy stores, empty shelves and disappointing sales.

but analysts at Jefferies said the latest figures revealed ‘a fairly extreme underperformance of other UK grocers’.

by contrast, asda’s sales were up 1pc compared with a year earlier, just behind Tesco which posted the strongest growth of the big Four supermarkets at 1.9pc.

morrisons, which is the fourth-largest grocer, clocked up a 0.8pc increase.

aldi cashed in on couples looking to save money for Valentine’s Day, with 10pc of britons buying chocolate, wine, steak, shellfish or a chilled dessert from the German discounter that week. sales at the budget grocer jumped 10pc during the 12-week period, the highest of all the supermarkets.

rival Lidl enjoyed a 5.4pc sales boost, while frozen food chain Iceland was up 1.7pc and convenience retailer Co-op climbed 3.6pc.

Online supermarket Ocado saw sales grow 3.4pc, with Waitrose posting a 1pc rise.

The two firms, which have had a supply arrangement for the past 19 years, will sever ties next year after Ocado struck a £1.5bn deal with marks & spencer.

m&s is paying Ocado £750m for a 50pc stake in its retail division, which values the business at £1.5bn.

The tie-up will see m&s sell and deliver groceries online for the first time in its 135year history.