Sainsbury tops forecasts as sales jump 7%

11th May 2011 07:45

A record number of customer transactions helped Sainsbury beat sales and profits forecasts, prompting the supermarket giant to hike its dividend by 6.3%.The board has recommended a full-year dividend of 15.1p per share for the 12 months ended 19 March, up from 14.2p previously.Meanwhile, sales grew by 7.1% from £21.42bn to £22.94bn, beating estimates of around £21.34bn, as a result of "market-beating like-for-like sales growth" (4.7%) and increased floor space, which contributed 2.4% to the rise. The group added 1.5m sq ft of gross space to its store estate over the period.Underlying pre-tax profit rose by 9% to £665m, from £610m, just ahead of forecasts of £661.8m, while underlying earnings per share jumped 11% from 23.9p to 26.5p.Weekly customer transactions reached an all-time high of 21 million, an increase of one million on last year."Sainsbury's has continued to outperform the market in challenging economic conditions...This was delivered during a period when household budgets have been under significant pressure, most notably from record fuel price inflation," the group said.The performance was also helped by non-food sales, which grew at more than three times the rate of grocery growth, with online sales jumping by over 20%."Despite a challenging economic environment, our strategy of universal appeal, underpinned by our values, has enabled us to deliver a good sales and profit performance," said chairman David Tyler.---BC