Sainsbury is down 4% in London, following a trading update from the food retailer for its third accounting quarter (16 weeks to January 6), marked by 6.5% growth in retail sales excluding fuel.

In the holiday period alone (i.e. the last six weeks of the quarter), however, sales rose by just 4.9%, with growth of 8.6% in the grocery category, but declines of 3.7% in general merchandise and 6% in clothing.

Nevertheless, Sainsbury continues to expect underlying pre-tax profit of between £670 and £700 million for the full 2023-24 financial year, as well as free cash flow from retail sales of at least £600 million.

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