Sainsbury's Records Another Fall In Sales

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has recorded a fall in sales for the fifth quarter running.

And the retail chain has warned the market is expected to remain challenging for the "forseeable future".

Excluding fuel, Sainsbury's saw like-for-like sales fall 1.9% in the last quarter to March.

This is down on the 1.7% drop reported in the previous quarter.

Despite the fall in sales, shares rose nearly 2% as the figures were in line with City expectations.

Chief executive Mike Coupe said: "The trading environment remains challenging and the decisions we have taken to improve our competitiveness are reflected in our quarterly performance."

He added: "We expect the market to remain challenging for the forseeable future.

"Food deflation is likely to persist for the rest of this calendar year, and competitive pressures on price will continue."

Sainsbury's and the other major grocery chains - Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) , Morrisons and Asda - are locked in a fierce supermarket war amid gains being made by discount chains Aldi and Lidl.

Sainsbury's is due to report its full-year profits in May - the first since Mr Coupe took the helm - which are expected to show the first fall after nine years of growth.

City analysts forecast a 17% drop to £659m.