Sainsbury's Results28 Apr 2021 09:23
Sainsbury's reported a 0.2% rise in revenue for the financial year that ended March 6 to GBP29.04 billion, from GBP28.99 billion the year before, but swung to a pretax loss of GBP261 million from the prior year's GBP255 million profit.
Underlying pretax profit of GBP356 million, down 39% on the year before, was hit by GBP485 million of direct Covid-19 costs, offsetting a strong sales performance excluding fuel. Grocery sales were up 7.8%, general merchandise sales up 8.3%, and digital sales doubled. Fuel sales drop by 39%, however, and Financial Services sales by 24%.
Fuel sales were hurt by reduced demand during lockdown and the impact of lower oil prices on the petrol sales price.
The underlying profit figure was, however, ahead of market consensus at GBP338 million.
The grocer will pay a total dividend for the year of 10.6 pence, in line with the year before.
"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," said Chief Executive Simon Roberts.
"We have a bold three-year plan to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury's and drive improved performance," said Roberts. "We are transforming the way we workn and I am encouraged by how all of our teams have responded and the early momentum and performance towards our plan."
Sainsbury's said it has carried good momentum into the new year, but noted it will come up against tough year-on-year comparatives as customer behaviour normalises. Sainsbury's expects underlying pretax profit in the year to March 2022 to exceed the GBP586 million reported in the 2020 financial year, and it is "comfortable" with consensus of around GBP620 million.
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