Despite the odd newt in a salad and fly in mashed potato, it seems Sainsbury’s can’t put a foot wrong at the moment.

The supermarket chain this morning unveiled market-beating half-year results, with sales up 4% to £14bn, pre-tax profits up 7% to £400m and like-for-like sales growth of 1.4% for the 28 weeks to 28 September.

Sainsbury’s has now reported 35 consecutive quarters of like-for-like growth. It’s also enjoying its biggest market share (16.8%) for a decade.

Sainsbury’s performance, not just in the past six months, but in 2013, has been impressive. It was unaffected by the horsemeat scandal; its Brand Match coupon-at-till scheme continues to be well received; and its Nectar loyalty card is proving invaluable in allowing it to tailor ranges and products – especially in its smaller supermarkets and convenience stores – to the local demographic.

Sainsbury’s isn’t the cheapest retailer, but like Waitrose it’s proving that quality and values can win through even in a tough economic climate.

There are a couple of chinks in its armour, however. Its interims reveal it has taken a £92m one-off charge after deciding not to press ahead with building around 15 to 20 supermarkets earmarked largely on brownfield and edge-of-town sites, following changes to planning rules.

And, intriguingly, it has also taken a £13m hit “as a result of a provision for a commercial item for which we intend to defend our position”. CFO John Rogers would not be drawn on what this commercial item is, only insisting it is not related to the judicial review Sainsbury’s launched against the Advertising Standards Authority’s decision last month, and that Sainsbury’s is “pretty confident” it will get that £13m back.

Despite this, it’s clear Sainsbury’s is in a great position in the run-up to the all-important festive period.

Sainsbury’s has been the ‘winner’ of Christmas among the big four for the past couple of years and with a Christmas TV ad push launching tonight that looks likely to blow its rivals’ campaigns out of the water, it would be hard to bet against it winning Christmas this time around.

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