Sainsbury's has posted a nearly 14% fall in underlying pre-tax profits, from £681m to £587m in March YoY. Cost of the intense supermarket price war, falling food prices and deflation contributed to the decline. The company said it was "disappointed" by its results but that there were signs of improvement as sales growth picked up during the second half of last year. However, Sainsbury's has lowered its final dividend from 8.2p to 8.1p, meaning investors' total pay-out has fallen 8.3pc to 12.1p. Asda performed the worst of the 'Big Four' supermarkets with a 5.1% drop but Aldi and Lidl increased sales by 12.5% and 15.4% respectively.
Sainsbury's has posted a nearly 14% fall in underlying pre-tax profits, from £681m to £587m in March YoY. Cost of the intense supermarket price war, falling food prices and deflation contributed to the decline. The company said it was "disappointed" by its results but that there were signs of improvement as sales growth picked up during the second half of last year. Asda performed the worst of the 'Big Four' supermarkets with a 5.1% drop but Aldi and Lidl increased sales by 12.5% and 15.4% respectively.