Sainsbury's posts strong second quarter

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's said it had outperformed the market in the second quarter, helped by strong sales of own label products and clothing.

Total sales for second quarter were up 4.4% excluding fuel, while like-for-like sales were up 1.9%.

Total sales for the first half were up 4.1% excluding fuel, with like-for-like sales over the six months rising 1.7%.

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This compared to market leader Tesco, which said on Wednesday that its total first half sales were up 1.6%.

The company said it was benefitting from ongoing investment in own-label ranges, particularly 'by Sainsbury's', which it said was growing at the strongest rate in recent years, and the Taste The Difference range, which saw near double-digit growth.

Non-food increased its pace of growth to around three times that of food, the firm said in the trading update.

Following the launch of its Denim Shop format, sales of jeans had almost doubled year-on-year, and the quarter also saw the company's biggest ever schoolwear season.

Sainsbury's said it was on track with delivering our target of one to two convenience stores per week, having opened 49 in the half.

It added that online business had seen growth of over 20% year-on-year.

Chief Executive Justin King said he expected the challenging economic backdrop to persist, but the firm was positioned to perform well coming into the important Christmas period.