Sainsbury's v Tesco: Head to Head

Tesco and Sainsbury’s gave an insight into their first half performance today. Retail Week takes a look at how they measure up against each other.

Tesco and Sainsburys

	Sainsburys	Tesco
Reporting period	26 weeks to 29 September	26 weeks to August 25
Like-for-like sales	Up 0.9%	Down 0.7%
Total UK sales	Up 3.3%	Up 2.1%
Current trading	“This has been a unique and special summer, during which we have delivered another quarter of good sales, outperforming the market in what remains a challenging retail environment.”	“Consistent with our previous guidance, we expect trading margins in the UK to besimilar in the second half to the first.”
Consumer environment	“ We expect the challenging economic backdrop to persist, but by helping our customers to Live Well For Less through competitive pricing, targeted promotions, quality own label products, and outstanding customer service, we are positioned to perform well coming into the important Christmas period.”	“We are planning on the basis that the global economic environment continues to be very challenging, with customers facing real financial pressures and our businesses bearing the burden of higher costs.”
Non-food	“Non-food has increased its pace of growth to around three times that of food.”	“General merchandise and electrical sales continue to be a drag on our overall performance – however clothing has returned to growth – particularly in the second quarter – as our offer benefited from further investment in both price and quality.”
Convenience	49 stores opened	60 stores opened