‘Hard work’ pays off for Sainsbury’s with half-year sales hike

Sainsbury’s has posted like-for-like sales growth of 1.9% for the past six months, excluding fuel. Total sales at the supermarket were up 7.6% to £12.8bn, or by 4.3% excluding fuel, in the 28 weeks to 1 October. Underlying pre-tax profits rose 6.6% to £354m.