Shares in supermarket giant J Sainsbury rose to a two-year high this week. The group reported a 3.6% rise in like-for-like sales (excluding fuel) in its fourth quarter, marking a 33rd successive quarter of underlying sales growth.
J Sainsbury was the only one of the big four supermarkets to increase its market share in the 12 weeks to mid-February, according to market researcher Kantar Worldpanel. J Sainsbury has “materially outperformed its… peers” in its last quarter, said Clive Black of Shore Capital.
What the commentators said
J Sainsbury “is deservedly reaping the financial rewards of staying horse-free”, said George Hay on Breakingviews. Barring the “late discovery of rogue meat in a frozen lasagne”, the group has “bragging rights” from its reliance on domestic beef and chicken and “rigorous controls” on frozen food sourced abroad. Still, “the horse effect should not be overstated”, said Garry White in The Daily Telegraph.
The outlook before ‘horsegate’ was encouraging. The investments in the group’s own-brand products, online offering and convenience stores are paying off. Online and convenience stores are the fastest-growing segments of the grocery market, said James Davey on Reuters.com. A “big push” into non-food products has also helped. J Sainsbury, concluded Hay, deserves its premium rating.