UK retailer Sainsbury's reports FY21 sales of £29 bn

Sainsbury's, a UK-based retailer, has reported 0.2 per cent sales growth to £29.0 billion in its fiscal 2021 ended on March 6, 2021, compared to the sales of £28.9 billion in the previous fiscal. The company’s loss before tax for the year was £261 million (FY20: profit £255 million). Sales of clothing segment fell 8.5 per cent to £0.9 million (£1.0 million).

 

“This year’s financial result 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,” Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury, said in a press release.

 

Gross profit was £1.7 billion (£2.0 billion), while operating profit for the year dropped to £60 million (£650 million).

 

“Clothing sales declined in the first half but recovered well in the second half. Online sales were particularly strong, growing by 64.6 per cent for the full year, helping to partially offset an in-store decline of 16.0 per cent,” the company’s release said.

 

“We have accelerated our digital transformation this year as we focus on serving customers however they want to shop with us. We have more than doubled our online grocery sales and have done this while improving profitability. Argos digital sales grew almost 70 per cent and our Argos transformation plan is on track to improve customer availability while reducing our costs,” Roberts said in the release.