London, July 2, 2026, 22:02 BST
- J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) ended Thursday up 2.00% at £3.37, above the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) which added 1.67%. Sainsbury shares still trade around 9% off their 52-week high.
- Grocery made up roughly 83% of ex-fuel retail sales in Q1 and brought in £261 million more year on year, topping the group’s ex-fuel retail sales growth of £238 million.
- The company kept its full-year outlook for total underlying operating profit at £975 million to £1.075 billion, with retail free cash flow still seen topping £500 million.
- All resolutions passed at Thursday’s AGM, clearing a 9.6p final dividend and share buyback authority.
Sainsbury’s closed at 337.20p in London, up 6.60p, or 2%, as of 16:36 BST, after LSE trading ended at 16:30. That matches MarketWatch’s £3.37 close. The shares also gained 3.38% Wednesday, so they’re up about 5% over two days.
Here’s how the two sessions broke down:
| Session | Sainsbury close | Sainsbury move | FTSE 100 move | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1 | £3.31 | up 3.38% | down 0.18% | 12.5 million, 50-day average 11.6 million |
| July 2 | £3.37 | up 2.00% | up 1.67% | 9.1 million, 50-day average 11.8 million |
Shares put in a second day of gains, but with lower volume than the first session. The move is there, but it’s not clear there’s big new money coming in.
The rally had to do with the mix. Like-for-like sales, stripping out fuel, increased just 2.1% over the 16 weeks to June 20, down from 3.1% in the last quarter. Grocery was up 3.6%. General merchandise and clothing at Sainsbury’s dropped 3.7%. Argos sales slipped 0.5%.
Sainsbury’s Q1 table is the base for these sales shares and pound moves. Company figures describe the bridge like this.
| Q1 sales area | 2026/27 sales | YoY growth | Share of ex-fuel retail sales | YoY sales change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery | £7,603 mln | +3.6% | 83.1% | +£261 mln |
| Argos | £1,114 mln | -0.5% | 12.2% | -£6 mln |
| General merchandise + clothing | £438 mln | -3.7% | 4.8% | -£17 mln |
| Total retail, excluding fuel | £9,153 mln | +2.7% | 100.0% | +£238 mln |
Food drove roughly 110% of the group’s net ex-fuel retail sales growth. Argos and general merchandise together pulled sales down by £23 million. For shareholders, the piece growing is the regular-basket business, while the lagging side is still tied to discretionary.
CEO Simon Roberts said in the release, “Customers are looking for value now more than ever.” He pointed to Aldi Price Match in supermarkets and convenience stores, as well as Nectar Prices on around 11,000 products, as reasons for the gains. Sainsbury’s
Roberts told Reuters the heat last week drove “best ever sales weeks for pizza, for ice cream, for berries.” He said Argos benefited too, selling more fans and paddling pools. The current quarter sees a lift from the weather, but Sainsbury hasn’t raised its guidance. Reuters
Argos sales looked softer than they really were. Volumes actually rose 2.2%, but average selling prices and mix pushed total revenue lower. Sainsbury said it added over 5,000 Supplier Direct Fulfilled lines in Q1, taking the total range to 26,000, and plans to launch Marketplace later this financial year.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Sainsbury had a “decent start” but pointed out it’s “more exposed to general merchandise than its peers” because of Argos. Hargreaves Lansdown said general merchandise and clothing dropped 3.7%, worse than the 1.3% drop expected. Argos was down 0.5%, better than the forecast 3.7% fall. HL
Like-for-like sales growth has dropped every quarter since Q1 last year:
| Like-for-like sales, ex fuel | Q1 2025/26 | Q2 2025/26 | Q3 2025/26 | Q4 2025/26 | Q1 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | 4.6% | 4.3% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2.1% |
Sainsbury kept its guidance midpoint at £1.025 billion, matching the 2025/26 underlying operating profit figure Reuters reported. The company also said it still expects to hit £1 billion in cost savings over three years through March 2027.
Sainsbury’s latest numbers stack up against Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) as the smaller player. The report points to stronger recent like-for-like sales, a heavier hit from non-food, and a bigger jump in shares after the update.
| Latest Q1 metric | Sainsbury | Tesco |
|---|---|---|
| Ticker | LON:SBRY | LON:TSCO |
| Q1 period | 16 weeks ending June 20 | 13 weeks to May 30 |
| Like-for-like sales | up 2.1% ex fuel | UK up 1.8% |
| UK grocery market share | 15.3% | Above 28% |
| Profit guidance | £975 million to £1.075 billion | £3.0 billion to £3.3 billion |
| Share move cited after update | shares up 2.4% | down 2.6% |
Inflation remains a risk, Roberts told the Guardian, saying there’s “still uncertainty where inflation will go,” even though UK grocery inflation hasn’t turned out as bad as many thought. Earlier, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy told Reuters the war had hit consumer sentiment, but food inflation hasn’t become a problem for Tesco yet. The Guardian
Sainsbury shareholders voted through the 9.6p final dividend at the AGM, with 99.69% in favor. The vote to authorize share buybacks got 99.98% support. The company said interim results will be out at 0700 BST on Oct. 22.
