London, June 30, 2026, 23:04 BST
- J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) ended the session quoted 319.20p/319.40p, up 1.27% after the London close. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.12%.
- Grocery sales grew by £261 million in Q1 from a year earlier, beating the entire ex-fuel retail increase. Argos and general merchandise and clothing together were down £23 million.
- The company kept its 2026/27 underlying operating profit outlook at £975 million to £1.075 billion and is still guiding for retail free cash flow of more than £500 million.
- Food inflation in the UK cooled to 2.4% in June, down from 2.7% in May, according to BRC numbers reported by Reuters.
J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) shares moved up following its Q1 update. The main figure for investors wasn’t the 2.1% drop in like-for-like sales. What mattered was the sales breakdown: grocery propped up the quarter, but Argos and the clothing division continued to weigh on revenue.
Sainsbury shares finished at 319.20p/319.40p on Hargreaves Lansdown, up 4.00p, or 1.27% after the London close. The FTSE 100 on the same site was up 0.12%, prices showing at least a 15-minute delay.
Sainsbury reported retail sales excluding fuel up 2.7% to £9.153 billion for the 16 weeks ending June 20. Like-for-like sales growth, also excluding fuel, slowed to 2.1% from 3.1% in the prior quarter. “Customers are looking for value now more than ever,” Chief Executive Simon Roberts said. Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s Q1 table lays out why the stock drew demand. Numbers, in £ millions, are from the sales bridge.
| Q1 line | 2026/27 sales | 2025/26 sales | Sales change | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery | 7,603 | 7,342 | +261 | +3.6% |
| General merchandise and clothing | 438 | 455 | -17 | -3.7% |
| Argos | 1,114 | 1,120 | -6 | -0.5% |
| Total retail ex fuel | 9,153 | 8,915 | +238 | +2.7% |
| Fuel | 1,310 | 1,115 | +195 | +17.5% |
| Total retail with fuel | 10,462 | 10,030 | +432 | +4.3% |
Grocery made up 83.1% of ex-fuel sales and drove 109.7% of the ex-fuel sales rise. Argos sales slipped 0.5%, though volumes were up 2.2%. Sainsbury said lower average selling prices and customers buying cheaper items hurt Argos revenue. The company added more than 5,000 supplier-direct products at Argos during the quarter, bringing the live count to 26,000.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Sainsbury had a “mixed” opening and is “more exposed to general merchandise than its peers” because of Argos. Chiekrie noted Argos sales fell 0.5%, which beat the forecast of a 3.7% drop. But general merchandise and clothing came in worse than expected—down 3.7% when analysts predicted a 1.3% fall. HL
| Line | Actual Q1 sales change | HL-cited expectation | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total retail excluding fuel | +2.7% | Met estimates | No surprise |
| General merchandise + clothing | -3.7% | -1.3% | Missed by 2.4 percentage points |
| Argos | -0.5% | -3.7% | Beat by 3.2 percentage points |
Sainsbury’s shares held up compared to Tesco plc (LON:TSCO), which slipped after London trading ended. Hargreaves Lansdown put Sainsbury’s market cap at £7.02 billion, with Tesco at £28.70 billion.
| Market line | After-close quote/change | Market cap | P/E | Dividend yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) | 319.20p/319.40p, up 1.27% | £7.02 bln | 14.16 | 3.00% |
| Tesco plc (LON:TSCO) | 457.90p/458.10p, down 0.50% | £28.70 bln | 15.63 | 3.16% |
| FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) | added 0.12% | — | — | — |
The chart wasn’t convincing yet. A FTSE Russell tear sheet from the London Stock Exchange dated June 29 listed Sainsbury at 316p, which was just 0.3% over its 50-day moving average and 3.7% under the 200-day moving average of 328p. Shares were 12.1% off the 52-week high and had dropped 2.8% since January. On Tuesday after the close, Sainsbury stayed roughly 2.7% below the 200-day average.
Food retailers got a boost from the latest inflation data, but risks stayed. Reuters said BRC numbers put shop price inflation at 1.2% in June, the same as before. Food inflation dropped to 2.4%, and fresh food inflation edged down to 2.8%. “A competitive market is keeping inflation in check for now,” BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said. Reuters
Roberts told the Guardian there’s still “pressure in the system” and said customers are “much more cautious” about buying non-food items. The Guardian said hot weather and World Cup games boosted demand for fresh food, ice cream, pizza and rapid delivery. The Guardian
Tesco’s most recent Q1 statement is the nearest listed peer guide, but the timeframes don’t line up. Tesco reported a 1.8% lift in UK and Ireland like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to May 30, with group like-for-likes up 1.0%. Sainsbury’s Q1 like-for-like sales ex-fuel rose 2.1% across the 16 weeks to June 20.
Sainsbury held its full-year profit guidance at £975 million to £1.075 billion. That compares with the £1.025 billion earned in 2025/26. Before the update, analysts polled by Reuters were looking for £1.061 billion. The company reports interim results at 0700 BST on Oct. 22.
