Sainsbury’s clothing sales decline in Q1

J Sainsbury plc reported first quarter like-for-like sales increase of 9.8 percent, while total retail sales were up 9.2 percent.

While general merchandise sales rose 4 percent, with Argos sales up 5.1 percent, the company’s clothing sales were down 3.7 percent.

The company said in a release that clothing sales were impacted by the cooler weather, with stronger sales in the later weeks of the quarter as the weather improved. Full price sales participation increased year-on-year in a highly promotional market.

The company added that clothing online benefitted from the migration to the Argos web platform and the introduction of more third-party brands

Sainsbury's continues to expect FY23/24 underlying profit before tax of between 640 million pounds and 700 million pounds and to generate at least 500 million pounds of retail free cash flow.