Sector News

We see Supermarkets once again in focus with another lockdown and key European borders closing.

Sainsbury’s announced this morning that due to stronger than expected sales they would be increasing their full year profit before tax expectations to be 5% higher than in 2019. The increased forecasts and market visibility has also allowed the grocery operator to support its shareholders by issuing a special dividend of 7.3p that will be paid in lieu of the final 2019/2020 dividend.

The combination of a second lockdown and Christmas shopping has certainly had an impact on the UK grocery market with the latest Kantar figures showing a 13.9% increase in take home grocery sales in the four weeks to 29th November 2020, Representing the fastest growth since August.

This morning, Tesco announced its ambition to repay £585m of business rates relief that it received during the coronavirus pandemic. This is a significant step taken by the UKs largest grocery operator and is the first in the sector to do so.

M&S revenue fell 15.8% in the 6 months to 26 September but was less severe than the grocer’s estimate of 22.8% and was in line with consensus forecast.  

We are pleased to see a set of strong results from Tesco this morning. The 29% increase in profits was driven by a 7% rise in like for like sales, and an increase in online sales of 69%.

Today, Sainsburys announced it would be increasing the number of online delivery slots to 700,000 by the end of October.

Morrisons sales surge but profits fall with Covid-19 costs