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| Sainsbury's reports fall in sales | Sainsbury's reports fall in sales |
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| Sainsbury's has reported a fall in sales for the third quarter in a row as the supermarket price wars begin to take their toll. | Sainsbury's has reported a fall in sales for the third quarter in a row as the supermarket price wars begin to take their toll. |
| It said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, in the three months to the end of September fell 2.8%. | It said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, in the three months to the end of September fell 2.8%. |
| That compares with a rise of 2.1% in like-for-like sales in the same quarter a year earlier. | That compares with a rise of 2.1% in like-for-like sales in the same quarter a year earlier. |
| Chief executive, Mike Coupe blamed short-term competition for "deflation in many areas of our business". | |
| Sainsbury's has already lowered prices on essential food items in an effort to compete with rivals including Asda as well as discounters Lidl and Aldi. | |
| Mr Coupe told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Clearly in the last few months the pace of change in our industry [has meant it] has changed beyond all recognition. | |
| "Customers are shopping very differently to the way they were shopping even a year ago. So we are seeing an increase in the number of outlets available to them and they are shopping much more frequently and little and often shopping so these trends are changing very rapidly." | |
| He added: "Clearly there are challenges in the marketplace you can't deny that but there are equally fantastic opportunities for us." | |
| Sainsbury's said total sales, which include sales at stores open for less than a year, also fell in the quarter by 0.8%. | |
| The like-for-like sales figures were slightly better than expected, with City analysts having forecast a fall in like-for-like sales of between 3.5% and 4%. |