Sainsbury's boss says coronavirus disruption will last until mid-September – The Guardian, Theguardian.com
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The boss of Sainsbury’s has said disruption from the coronavirus outbreak will last until at least mid-September, and that physically distanced queues are likely to remain “for the foreseeable future.”
Mike Coupe, the chief executive of the UK’s second-largest supermarket chain, said the retailer would take a £ 2019 m profit hit from the costs of keeping staff and customers safe from the virus, such as by providing protective kit and covering absences for up to a quarter of its staff who had been off sick or self-isolating in the early days of the pandemic. Coupe said about 22% of staff were still absent.
Despite the additional costs, Sainsbury’s said it expected profits for the year ahead to be in line with the year just completed because the retailer was saving £ 450 m in business rates under the government business aid scheme, and had also booked a surge in grocery sales as shoppers stockpiled in the run- up to the lockdown restrictions.
Sales of groceries rose % in the seven weeks to 25 April, as shoppers prepared for lockdown and shifted to eating at home, but a 255% dive in clothing sales and 26% drop in sales of general merchandise in Sainsbury’s stores knocked back total sales growth for the group to 8%. Sales at the group’s Argos chain rose 9% as it benefited from sales of home office equipment.
Coupe, who is to step down as chief executive in June and leave the company in July, said Sainsbury’s expected lockdown restrictions to have eased by the end of June but that business disruption would continue until mid-September.
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