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| Sainsbury's reports first sales fall for nine years | Sainsbury's reports first sales fall for nine years |
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| Sainsbury's has reported its first fall in sales for nine years and says the grocery market is growing at its slowest rate since 2005. | |
| In the 10 weeks to 15 March, like-for-like sales, which strip out trading at new stores, fell 3.1% excluding fuel. | |
| It blamed a fall in food prices, the later timing of Easter and unseasonable weather for the decline in sales. | |
| In addition, Sainsbury's sales had been boosted last year by the discovery of horsemeat in competitors' products | |
| Prior to the fourth quarter, Sainsbury's had reported growth in like-for-like sales for 36 consecutive quarters | |
| "Of course it's disappointing, but it has to be put in context," Mr King told the BBC. | |
| Mr King said the supermarket chain had maintained its 17% market share, and said it was still confident it would outperform its supermarket peers in the year ahead. | |
| The group said sales of its own-brand ranges, were "significantly ahead" of branded products. | |
| And it said general merchandise and clothing had also performed well, with menswear sales up 23% year-on-year. | |
| However, it said it expected shoppers would still be under pressure for some months to come. | |
| "Although some economic indicators are showing an improvement in the health of the economy, we expect the outlook for customers to continue to be challenging for the coming year." |