JSAIY J Sainsbury Plc (QX)

By Adriano Marchese

J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) said Wednesday that total retail sales were down 1.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, dragged down by a poor clothing business sales.

The second-largest U.K. grocer by market share said that on a like-for-like basis, sales excluding fuel were down 1.6% in the first quarter ended June 29, compared with 0.2% in the prior year's comparative period.

The company's clothing business took the biggest hit, seeing a decline in sales of 4.5% in the quarter compared with a rise of 0.8% during the previous year's equivalent period. General merchandise sales also fell 3.1%, while last year it rose 1.7% in the period. J Sainsbury blamed tougher competition and unseasonably poor weather.

J Sainsbury said that it is committed to reducing net debt by at least 600 million pounds ($757.1 million) over the next three years.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 03, 2019 02:36 ET (06:36 GMT)

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