Yahoo Finance Sainsbury’s says Covid costs have been high, but sales improve
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has cheered sales growth, but Covid costs have been high and the group recorded a full-year pretax loss of £261 million .
The grocer is among chains to have seen high demand during the pandemic. It has been allowed to keep stores open over the last year, while non essential retailers have had to temporarily close at various points.
Comparable sales, excluding fuel, jumped 8.1% in the year to March 6, and digital sales more than doubled.
But Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: "This year's financial results have been heavily influenced by the pandemic. Food and Argos sales are significantly higher, but the cost of keeping colleagues and customers safe during the pandemic has been high.”
There were costs covering factors such as PPE and increased staff absence as the retailer paid people to stay at home when necessary. Underlying pretax profit was down 39% to £356 million. It also paid back business rates relief.
A total pre-tax loss of £261 million was posted, down from a profit of £255 million. That was linked to costs from a restructuring announced last year that includes the closure of a number of Argos shops and meat and deli counters.
Roberts said: "Like our customers, we are all looking forward to things feeling more normal over the coming months and getting excited about a summer of celebration, but we are also cautious about the economic outlook.”
The company said it has carried good underlying trading momentum into the new financial year and started the year strongly.
It expects underlying profit pre-tax profit in the financial year to March 2022 to exceed that reported in the year to March 2020.
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