Sainsbury’s “strong focus” on value has helped the supermarket beat the market and win volume gains in the first quarter of 2026.
Grocery sales grew 3.6% to £7.6bn in the 16 weeks to 20 June 2026 despite tough prior year comparatives and fierce competition from the other mults. Total retail sales excluding fuel were up 2.7% to £9.2bn.
Sainsbury’s maintained its profit guidance for the year of between £975m and £1.075bn in underlying operating profit.
“Customers are looking for value now more than ever,” said chief executive Simon Roberts.
“We are consistently delivering outstanding quality at great value, so more people are choosing Sainsbury’s for their big weekly shop.”
Sainsbury’s has won overall volume growth of just under 1%, according to estimates from house broker Shore Capital.
However, despite higher-than-expected volume growth of around 2.2%, Argos sales declined by 0.5% in the quarter.
Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing wing declined more sharply, falling 3.7%.
Shore Capital head of research Clive Black called Argos’ performance “better than we thought” thanks to the volume growth amid “challenging UK non-food market conditions”.
“Noting tough multi-year comparisons, especially for its core grocery activities, Sainsbury has reported what we deem to be a very decent Q1 trading statement,” he said.
“Grocery continues to go very well whilst we see sound non-food trading in tough market conditions.”
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