Chief executive Simon Roberts said over the 16 weeks to January 6, sales of its Taste the Difference range rose by 13% as customers opted to treat themselves at home.
Sainsbury’s overall third-quarter till toll, excluding fuel, rose 6.5% and general merchandise 0.9%. Clothing, however, fell 1.7%.
Bosses blamed the clothes decline on unseasonably mild weather, especially over Christmas, and high levels of promotions across the sector.
Meanwhile, sales fell by 0.9% at Argos. Sainsbury’s, which acquired the catalogue retailer in 2016, said it suffered due to tough comparisons with Christmas 2022 – when it benefited from the postal strike and high demand for energy-saving items.
However, Mr Roberts was bullish about future prospects. He said Argos had outperformed a weak general merchandise market and clothing sales were regaining momentum.
He said a focus on prices and value had attracted more customers to Sainsbury’s, which has grown its sales and volumes. He said: “We worked hard to really deliver for our customers this quarter and have grown grocery volumes ahead of the market for the fourth Christmas in a row. We enter 2024 with strong momentum.”
Sainsbury’s expects its profits for 2023-24 to come in as forecast, at £670-£700million, with strong grocery sales offsetting weaker contributions from its general merchandise and finance businesses.
Hargreaves Lansdown lead equity analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said: “Sainsbury’s has put in an enormous amount of work to improve its pricing and product propositions and this has allowed it to hit the consumer sweet spot.
“Crucially, the number of items being bought is proving resilient, so sales momentum isn’t purely being driven by prices.”
Elsewhere, bakery Greggs said a strong fourth quarter meant 2023 financial year sales rose 19.6% to £1.8billion. It opened a record 220 new shops last year and has plans for more in 2024.
