J Sainsbury, Britain's third-biggest grocer, met forecasts with a pick-up in quarterly sales driven by growth at local convenience stores and online, outperforming rivals including market leader Tesco.
The group, which trails Tesco and No. 2 player Wal-Mart's Asda by annual revenue, said today sales at stores open over a year rose 2%, excluding fuel, in the 16 weeks to September 28, its fiscal second quarter.
Tesco also released quarterly figures this morning and reported a 23.5% drop in profits for the first half of its financial year.
Sainsbury's online grocery sales rose by more than 15% in its second quarter, now channeling £1 billion, while convenience store sales rose 20%.
The performance was also driven by sales of its own-brand food and clothing range Tu. Sales of Taste the Difference and By Sainsbury's own-label food grew at more than twice the rate of branded food.
But Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King said the market remained tough despite "some encouraging" signs for the UK economy as a whole.
The outcome, a 35th consecutive quarter of underlying sales growth, compares with analysts' forecasts of a rise of 1.5-2.8% and first quarter growth of 0.8%. Over the second quarter, Sainsbury’s opened 31 convenience stores and five new supermarkets, adding 307,000 sq ft to its estate.
