Sainsburys To Reveal Leap In Pre-Tax Profits

Mon, 10 May 2010

 
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Sainsbury's is expected to announce annual profits of over £600 million later this week, according to reports.

City analysts are forecasting pre-tax profits of between £600m and £625m for the year to March 31 - up from £543 million last year.

Sainsbury’s like-for-like sales grew by 4.3 per cent, excluding fuel, over the year, while sales growth in the final 11 weeks slowed to 1.7 per cent.

However, analysts believe the supermarket chain will avoid giving an update on recent sales amid tough market conditions, which is likely to fuel speculation that the retailer has been struggling to keep up sales growth due to easing food inflation.

Last week, rival chain Morrisons revealed that sales growth at its UK stores over the last three months had fallen to just 0.8 per cent, down from the 4.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter and a 6.5 per cent rise over Christmas .

Meanwhile The Times reports that Sainsburys is to reward its staff with an estimated £70m bonus pool for their efforts over the twelve months to the end of March.

More than 120,000 workers will receive an average bonus of £580 each, while Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King is expected to pocket a cash bonus of more than £1m.