Sainsbury’s blames ‘significant headwinds’ for drop in Argos sales at Christmas
Sainsbury’s has blamed “significant headwinds” from weak consumer confidence, heavy online competition and widespread discounting for a fall in sales at its Argos chain over the all-important Christmas quarter.The UK’s second-largest grocer said its supermarkets increased sales by 3.4% at established stores in the three months to 3 January but Argos sales fell 1% in the period.Argos, which has more than 600 stores and 400 collection points, most of which are within Sainsbury’s outlets, performed particularly badly in the crucial final six weeks, with total sales down 2.2% compared with the Sainsbury’s chain’s 4.
6% increase,The company said it had sold more items at Argos but the average price of products across the market was down amid “subdued spending on higher ticket items such as furniture, heavy promotional activity and a weak gaming market”,It said it had faced “significant headwinds from online traffic trends, a tough and promotional general merchandise market and weak consumer confidence”,Online competition, amid the continued rise of cut-price online sellers such as Temu and Shein,has put significant pressure on traditional retailers this Christmas,Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, joined calls for the government to bring forward plans to crack down on tax breaks on the import of low-priced goods that have been exploited by online sellers based overseas.
The government does not plan to change the rules until 2029, but Roberts said: “I would encourage that to happen as soon as possible.”Roberts also said that shoppers had “held back” spending before the government’s November’s budget and were “looking for value for money” because of concerns about the cost of living and inflation.Roberts said he believed food inflation had peaked as commodity prices had stabilised and labour cost rises were more manageable and predictable for 2026.However, he added that shoppers were likely to continue to focus on price and the market continued to be “heavily competitive”.He said the government should continue to review business rates as there was a “big difference between physical and digital retail” on costs.
The poor performance at Argos is likely to fuel speculation that Sainsbury’s will aim to offload the catalogue shop, which was the target of an approach from the Chinese group JD.com in the autumn.Roberts said a strong performance at its supermarkets meant it was still on track to achieve profit expectations.He said the group expected to return more than £800m of cash to shareholders this year, including a £250m special dividend.Roberts said Sainsbury’s had “smashed this Christmas out of the park” on groceries as it benefited from shoppers buying more healthy and fresh foods and premium own-label goods as well as searching for cheaper basics and using their loyalty cards.
Sales of fresh food rose 8% and its Taste the Difference range increased by 15%.He said: “Investments in value, quality and service have delivered further strong grocery trading momentum and market share gains and, despite weaker general merchandise market conditions, we continue to expect to deliver retail underlying operating profit of more than £1bn.”Online sales of groceries increased 14% in the quarter, helped by a rise in demand for rapid delivery.In contrast, Sainsbury’s said its clothing sales had been affected by “softer demand and milder weather”, building on fears for the wider fashion market over the period.Sainsbury’s shares closed more than 5% down in London on Friday, to value the company at just over £7bn.
Nicholas Found, of industry analyst Retail Economics, said: “Sainsbury’s results reinforce a stark divide in retail,Food retailers capitalised on cautious spending over Christmas, while general merchandise is feeling the brunt of fragile consumer confidence,”Marks & Spencer on Thursday said its clothing sales had fallen in the run-up to Christmas when food sales soared,Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, said it was aiming to grab an even bigger slice of the grocery market this year after winning its best share in more than a decade over Christmas, with strong sales of fresh food and its Finest own-label range,
US hiring held firm in December capping weakest year of growth since pandemic
Hiring held firm in the US last month, official data showed, amid uncertainty over the strength and direction of the world’s largest economy.Employers added 50,000 jobs to the US labor force last month, capping the weakest year of growth since the pandemic, according to data released from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.The closely watched reading was slightly shy of the approximately 73,000 jobs economists expected to be added in the US economy in December.Previous readings for October and November were also revised lower, with the BLS now estimating that the US added 76,000 fewer jobs during those two months. In October, during the longest US government shutdown in history, the US economy shed 173,000 jobs
Glencore and Rio Tinto are at it again – and it seems the markets smell action
Here we go again. A combination of Rio Tinto and Glencore has been talked about for years and the duo held aborted negotiations at the end of 2024. With the global mining industry in deal-making mode – frenzies come along every 15 years or so – the idea of RioGlen or GlenTinto was due another whirl. On Friday, the two FTSE 100 companies said they were in “preliminary discussions” about a “possible combination of some or all of their businesses”. A full-blown tie-up would be worth about $260bn (£120bn), including debt
Elon Musk’s X threatened with UK ban over wave of indecent AI images
Elon Musk’s X has been ordered by the UK government to tackle a wave of indecent AI images or face a de facto ban, as an expert said the platform was no longer a “safe space” for women.The media watchdog, Ofcom, confirmed it would accelerate an investigation into X as a backlash grew against the site, which has hosted a deluge of images depicting partially stripped women and children.X announced a restriction on creating images via the Grok AI tool on Friday morning in response to the global outcry. A post on the platform said the ability to generate and edit images would now be “limited to paying subscribers”. Those who pay have to provide personal details, meaning they could be identified if the function was misused
Robots that can do laundry and more, plus unrolling laptops: the standout tech from CES 2026
This year will be filled with robots that can fold your laundry, pick up objects and climb stairs, fridges that you can command to open by voice, laptops with screens that can follow you around the room on motorised hinges and the reimagining of the BlackBerry phone.Those are the predictions from the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas that took place this week. The sprawling event aims to showcase cutting-edge technology developed by startups and big brands.Many of these fancy developments will be available to actually buy, moving from outlandish concepts to production devices, although some are still limited to costly prototypes.The rise of the humanoid robot continues, with the show floor filled with myriad prototypes, some of which operated autonomously rather than being remotely controlled or performing set routines this year
Free agent outfielder Max Kepler hit with 80-game ban for positive drug test
Free agent outfielder Max Kepler has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, Major League Baseball announced on Friday, a ruling that sidelines the veteran as he looks for his next club.The suspension stems from a positive test for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of the prohibited steroid trenbolone prohibited under MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The ban takes effect immediately and would apply if Kepler signs with a team during the 2026 season.Kepler, who turns 33 next month, is an 11-year major league veteran who spent the first decade of his career with the Minnesota Twins before joining the Philadelphia Phillies last season. As a free agent, he was not under contract at the time of the announcement but remains subject to the league’s drug program
France taps out as G7 summit moved to avoid clash with White House UFC event
France has delayed this year’s Group of 7 summit by one day to avoid a scheduling conflict with an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card planned at the White House on 14 June, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the G7’s preparations.The summit, hosted by France in the Alpine resort town of Evian-les-Bains, was originally scheduled for 14 to 16 June, a date that coincides with US Flag Day and US president Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. It will now run from 15 to 17 June, a change that has been reflected on the G7’s official website.The shift follows Trump’s announcement last October that the White House would host a “big UFC fight” on 14 June. Dana White, the president and chief executive of the UFC, mixed martial arts’ biggest promotion, said this week that planning for the event is complete and that it is expected to draw up to 5,000 spectators on the White House South Lawn
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