Sainsbury’s Forecasts Tough Year Ahead

Sainsbury’s may face a tough year ahead with the supermarket posting a marginal average growth increase year-on-year.

The company said sales rose 7.1% year-on-year for the 11-week period to 20 March.

The retail giant recorded an average £19m in weekly transactions, up by around a million since last year.

The Co-operative Group, which runs around 525 supermarkets and 300 convenience stores, said last week its underlying sales were nearly flat.

The company will deliver gross space growth of 15% in the two years to March 2011, it said.