Record Christmas results at Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s has posted record Christmas results, taking more than £1bn in sales across the group during the 15 weeks to 7 January 2017. Total retail sales for the group excluding fuel grew by 0.1% over the period, and total retail sales grew by 0.8%. Argos reported like-for-like sales up by 0.4%, and total sales up by 4.1%. During the period, 30m customer transactions took place, generating £1bn of sales. Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s group chief executive, said: “Our Groceries Online and Convenience channels performed well, achieving over 9% and 6% sales growth respectively. At Argos we saw record levels of online participation. Online sales made up 18% of total group sales in the quarter. “Clothing and general merchandise also had a very strong quarter, with clothing sales up by 10% and general merchandise up by 3%.” • To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@estatesgazette.com or tweet @amberrolt or @estatesgazette