HOW DOES SAINSBURY’S PERFORMANCE COMPARE TO ITS PEERS?
JAMES MONRO | S&P EQUITY RESEARCH
“These results put Sainsbury’s in line with Tesco in terms of growth, adjusting for Clubcard sales, but we would have liked to see more given the benefit of two weeks of World Cup sales. But Sainsbury’s may need more margin investment to keep up with its rival over the full year.”
JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO
“The food retail sector has been a weak relative performer of late but we think this is a temporary trend. We prefer Tesco due to excellent overseas growth prospects, but Sainsbury’s does offer an attractive prospective dividend yield and the prospect of renewed bid speculation at some point.”
DAVE MCCARTHY | EVOLUTION SECURITIES
“Sainsbury’s Justin King was far more cautious than Sir Terry Leahy at Tesco, seeing a consumer under pressure and an absence of inflationary pressure. Fundamentally we remain cautious on the sector, though Sainsbury’s share price is driven by occasional bouts of bid speculation.”