Shares in J Sainsbury (LON: SBRY) fell by 5.5% in early trading following the release of its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended February 28, 2026.
\nThe decline is attributed to the company\u2019s warning that the conflict in the Middle East will impact both its customers and its business, creating uncertainty around future profitability.
\nSainsbury\u2019s anticipates total underlying operating profit for the 2026\/27 financial year to be in the range of \u00a3975 million to \u00a31,075 million. Despite this profit warning, the company maintains its expectation of delivering retail free cash flow exceeding \u00a3500 million.
\nFor the fiscal year 2025\/26, Sainsbury\u2019s reported a 4.9% increase in sales (excluding fuel) to \u00a325.9 billion. Grocery sales showed strong growth, up 5.2%, driven by consistent volume increases and market share expansion throughout the year. Argos sales also saw a modest increase of 0.7% to \u00a34.1 billion. However, fuel sales decreased by 8.2% to \u00a33.6 billion.
\nRetail underlying operating profit slightly declined by 1.1% to \u00a31,025 million, reflecting significant operating cost inflation and investments in value to maintain competitiveness. Statutory profit after tax rose significantly by 55.3% to \u00a3393 million, due to lower losses from discontinued Financial Services operations and reduced restructuring costs.
\nThe company proposes a full-year dividend of 13.7 pence per share, a marginal increase of 0.7%. Additionally, Sainsbury\u2019s has actively returned capital to shareholders through share buybacks, completing a \u00a3200 million core buyback and returning \u00a3300 million from the disposal of its banking operations. A further \u00a3100 million from the banking exit will be returned this year, alongside a \u00a3200 million core buyback, totaling \u00a3300 million in share repurchases.
\nAskTraders Takeaway: The profit warning linked to Middle East uncertainties is weighing heavily on the stock. Markets will closely watch how Sainsbury\u2019s navigates these challenges and whether its value-focused strategy can sustain volume growth amidst rising costs.
\nCEO Simon Roberts stated, \u201cMore and more customers are choosing Sainsbury\u2019s for more of their shopping, trusting us to deliver great value day in day out,\u201d highlighting the company\u2019s commitment to customer value amid challenging conditions.
\nAnalyst Summary: Bull and Bear Cases
\nBull Case:
\n* Investment in \u201cAldi Price Match\u201d and Nectar Prices is successfully attracting value-conscious customers and growing market share.
\n* Strong performance in fresh food categories is driving overall grocery sales growth.
\n* A robust cost-saving program aims to deliver \u00a31 billion in savings to mitigate inflationary pressures.
\n* Statutory profit after tax increased by 55.3%, and the company is actively returning capital to shareholders via dividends and buybacks.
\nBear Case:
\n* The profit warning linked to the Middle East conflict has created significant uncertainty around future profitability.
\n* The company anticipates a decline in underlying operating profit for the 2026\/27 financial year.
\n* Retail underlying operating profit has already fallen by 1.1% due to significant operating cost inflation.
\n* A decrease in fuel sales by 8.2% has negatively impacted overall revenue figures.
\nDiscover our top-recommended brokers for trading or investing in financial markets. Dive in and test their capabilities with complimentary demo accounts today!
\n#Sainsburys #StockMarket #ProfitWarning #MiddleEastConflict #RetailNews #SharePrices #FinancialResults #GrocerySales #MarketUncertainty #InvestorUpdate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shares in J Sainsbury (LON: SBRY) fell by 5.5% in early trading following the release of its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended February 28, 2026. The decline is attributed to the company\u2019s warning that the conflict in the Middle East will impact both its customers and its business, creating uncertainty around future profitability. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}