Sainsburys announce rise in half year profits

Supermarket giant Sainsburys has reported a nine per cent rise in half-year products, with a pre-tax profit of £433 million.
This represents 9.1 per cent growth from the same period in 2012. Its like-for-like sales, which do not include fuel and the opening of new stores, were up 1.4 per cent as well. This means that Sainsbury’s has now overtaken Asda into second place as the largest supermarket in the UK, one place behind market leaders Tesco.
Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, told the BBC that it still has a lot of work to do in order to match its rival Tesco, “Average price rises are still ahead of average wage rises. People at the end of the week, at the end of the month, have less money left. That’s the reality we are trading in.”
Mr King also said that Sainsbury’s share of the grocery market was at its highest for a decade, after 35 consecutive quarters of like-for-like sales growth. In particular, Sainsbury’s has benefited from its online sales and convenience stores, which rose by 15 and 20 per cent respectively in the half-year.