Overall, the grocer booked a 5.2% increase in sales and a retail underlying operating profit of £504m for the period ending 13 September 2025.
Statutory profit after tax came in at £165m (HY 2024/25: £76m).
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Tu Clothing alone saw sales grow 7.8% in H1, outperforming the market for the fifth consecutive quarter, driven by range and availability improvements, strong online growth and its “best ever” back-to-school performance.
Sainsbury’s said its customer offer now combines “great value with quality design and on-trend desirability, driving improved customer perception metrics”, which has helped deliver an improvement in full price sales.
Eleanor Simpson- Gould, senior retail analyst at GlobalData believes Tu clothing excelled “thanks to improved product ranges, better availability, and strong online performance – a clear sign that the grocer’s range is resonating among consumers and improving full-price sell-through.”
Going forward, Sainsbury’s expects retail underlying operating profit of more than £1bn and retail free cash flow of more than £500m over the 25/26 period.
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By GlobalDataSimon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury plc, commented: “We started this year with one clear priority – to sustain the strong competitive position we have built over the last five years. We have delivered on this in the first half, with focused and effective investment to ease cost-of-living pressures, keeping price inflation behind the wider market and delivering our winning combination of great value, trusted quality and leading service. This has driven continued grocery volume growth ahead of the market for a fifth consecutive year and a profit performance ahead of our expectations.
“We planned for a strong summer and we really delivered, with leading product innovation and outstanding fresh food availability when demand was highest throughout the hot weather. At Argos, we delivered a good seasonal performance, grew market share and improved profitability. A huge thank you to all our hard working and dedicated colleagues, suppliers and farmers who make this possible every day.
“Our offer has never been stronger. So while we expect the market to remain highly competitive, our momentum gives us real confidence as we head into Christmas and we have strengthened our profit guidance today.”
