Sainsbury’s has reported a solid sales performance for its first quarter of the year, thanks largely to Easter, the royal wedding and the sunny April weather.
Like-for-like sales at in the three months to June 11 increased by 1.9 per cent, excluding fuel but including VAT, year-on-year, beating Tesco’s equivalent figure of 1 per cent growth.
The figure is also up from the 1 per cent growth recorded the previous quarter, but lower than analysts’ expectations of a 2.1 per cent rise in quarterly sales .
In a trading statement, Sainsburys said: “Despite the tough economic conditions our customers celebrated Easter, the royal wedding and the glorious weather in April, playing to our strength of supporting family occasions.”
“We sold nearly 300 miles of bunting, 159,000 flags and 49,000 mugs,” it added. “Hot cross bun sales increased 29 per cent and we sold the most champagne we have ever sold outside of Christmas.”
The UK’s third largest supermarket also revealed that general merchandise and clothing sales grew at a faster rate than food over the three months, resulting in its best ever quarterly performance for childrenswear .
