J Sainsbury – The Market’s Hungry For Pandemic-Level Growth
J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY)’s half year revenue, excluding fuel, was £14.9bn, broadly in-line with last year’s lockdown-boosted sales. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, revenue’s up 7.3%. This reflected sales increases in Grocery and Clothing, but a decline in General Merchandise as post-lockdown shopping patterns started to normalise. Q3 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more Lower Covid-19 costs meant underlying operating profits rose 8% to £542m. The group announced an interim dividend of 3.2p per share, and continues to expect full-year underlying pre-tax profits of at least £660m. Th...