Sainsbury's warns of competitive trading

The group '‹report'‹ed a 0.5'‹ per cent'‹ fall in like-for-like supermarket sales in its fourth quarter to March 11, down from a rise of 0.1'‹ per cent'‹ in the previous three months.'‹Group trading was boosted by a robust performance from its recently acquired Argos chain, which notched up a 4.3'‹ per cent'‹ rise in like-for-like sales over the nine weeks.The Argos sales hike helped lift group-wide '‹like-for-like sales into positive territory, up 0.3'‹ per cent'‹ in the fourth quarter.Group chief executive Mike Coupe said he was pleased with the company's performance.But he added: "The market remains very competitive and the impact of cost price pressures remains uncertain."However, we are well placed to navigate the external environment and remain focused on delivering our strategy'‹."Paul Thomas, senior consultant at Retail Remedy,'‹ said: "Sainsbury'‹''‹s has once again been buoyed by Argos like for like sales. '‹"'‹Any growth in the grocery market is to be celebrated particularly when Sainsbury'‹''‹s is competing against resurgent Morrisons and Tesco, and the discounters who are demonstrating how agile marketing and efficient range development can grow in a turbulent market.'‹"'‹A continued focus on cost saving has led to the announcement of job cuts recently. On the one hand this is distressing but on the other its shows a commitment to moving with customer shopping habits and technology advances which improve efficiency and benefits the customer in the longer term. It is not just cutting costs, it is growing the business.'‹"'‹John Ibbotson, director of retail consultancy Retail Vision, '‹added:'‹ '‹“Argos is proving a guardian angel rather than an albatross for Sainsbury’s.“While the acquisition of the catalogue brand initially swallowed time and resources, it is now paying dividends for Sainsbury’s.“Argos’s strong performance provided the stand-out numbers in an otherwise challenging set of quarterly sales figures.'‹"'‹