Sainsbury’s Summer Sales Slump

Sainsbury’s has today announced a downturn in sales over the third quarter, as a result of bad weather over the course of the summer months resulting in a slowdown in customer activity in line with similar slackening results from Tesco and Morrisons.

The level of sales in the run up to the start of October were up by just 3.1%, excluding sales in petrol and finance, down from growth of over 5.0% during the previous period, with the slowdown attributed to a worse summer than normal.

Bad weather was the key factor in the sales downturn over the period, according to sources within several of the major supermarkets, which has seen sales across the board slowdown on growth earlier in the year.

Meanwhile Sainsbury’s announced their intention to bring in a range of fairtrade tea to its shelves over the coming months, designed to make them one of the largest fairtrade retailers in the UK.

Additionally, with 7,000 price cuts to instore products, the Sainsbury’s spokesperson today said it would continue to hold its own against Tesco and other major supermarkets for the foreseeable future.

Sainsbury’s is currently in the midst of takeover talks with a Qatar based private equity firm Delta Two, which is currently investigating the company books before it is expected to formally launch its £10.5 billion bid.

The move is not expected to have the full support of the Sainsbury family, who currently hold 18% of the shares in the company. They are said to be displeased at the current proposals to deal with Sainsbury pension trustees and the valuation overall.

It remains to be seen whether the Sainsbury’s takeover deal will go through, although at present it is forecast that an official move will be made later next week after the accounts have been thoroughly examined, pending shareholder approval.