Sainsbury's gets boost from budget brand

13th May 2009 07:02

Strong demand for its 'basics' range has helped supermarket giant J Sainsbury deliver better than expected full year profit.Underlying profit for the year to 21 March leapt 11.3% to £543m, ahead of the £527m predicted, while a 6% hike in revenue, excluding VAT, to £18.9bn was in line with forecasts. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, but including VAT, rose 4.5%.Sales were given a boost by cash conscious shoppers tucking into the firm's budget 'basics' range, which saw sales surge over 60% in the final quarter, making it the company's fastest growing sub-brand over the year. Around 70% of Sainsbury's customers now buy into the range, which includes more than 650 products."This is another good set of results for Sainsbury's with continuing growth in sales and tight cost control leading to further improvements in profit," said chairman Philip Hampton.Sainsbury's told reporters that it's seeking a replacement for Hampton, who's got his hands full chairing Royal bank of Scotland, now 70%-owned by the taxpayer.Chief executive Justin King added: "We are performing well and have significant opportunities for further growth. We expect the current economic environment to remain challenging but our focus on doing a great job for customers means we are well positioned to continue our good progress."There was some disappointment that the company didn't raise forecasts for the current year for profits of about £575m.The busy tills were good news for the supermarket's 120,000 staff who'll share a bonus pot of £60m, or about £500 each.A final dividend of 9.6p a share takes the total for the year to 13.2p, up 10% on last year.