UK's Sainsbury's reports first quarterly sales growth in 2 years

[LONDON] Sainsbury's, Britain's second biggest supermarket, on Tuesday beat expectations with its first quarterly underlying sales growth in over two years, potentially helping its takeover approach for Argos-owner Home Retail.

The firm, which is embroiled in a two-way bid battle for Argos, said sales at stores open over a year rose 0.1 per cent, excluding fuel, in the nine weeks to March 12, its fiscal fourth quarter.

That compared to analysts' forecasts in a range of flat to down 0.6 per cent and a third quarter decline of 0.4 per cent.

Sainsbury's said it expected the market to remain competitive but was confident it would continue to outperform its major peers.

REUTERS