Wednesday preview: Sainsbury unveils third-quarter results

Sainsbury is in the spotlight as Britain's third largest supermarket chain posts its third-quarter trading results on Wednesday.

The statement comes one day after the company showed the highest sales growth of the so-called 'Big Four' grocers in the lead up to Christmas, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

The market researcher said Sainsbury's sales grew 3.4% in the 12 weeks to December 23rd. Shares were up 1.90% to 338.00p at 15:15 Tuesday.

The results trumped the likes of others in the 'Big Four' list including Tesco, Asda and Morrison.

Tesco saw sales growth of 2.9 %, Asda reported a 2.2% rise, while Morrison's fell 0.6%.

The UK grocery market expanded overall by 3.2%, with the strongest performances recorded at the discount and premium ends of the market.

However, Sainsbury is facing difficult structural issues, partly as a result of its transition from larger stores towards the convenience store format and digital.

Analysts at Investec said earlier they "remain negative on Sainsbury and believe that structural issues will weigh heavily on the company in 2013".

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