A late surge in spending at Christmas does not appear to have helped J Sainsbury, with sales falling by more than expected as shoppers “downtraded” to less expensive items.
Britain’s second largest grocer revealed that its like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, were down by 1.1% in the 15 weeks to January 5. The City had expected a 0.3% drop.
The subdued performance was in part due to its clothing and general merchandise divisions, which include Argos, where sales dropped by 0.2% and 2.3% respectively.
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