Sainsbury\'s profits jump 6% as market share grows

Supermarket chain Sainsbury\'s on Wednesday announced a 6.0-percent rise in interim net profits, as its share of Britain\'s grocery market hit the highest level in almost a decade. Sainsbury\'s said profit after tax hit £320 million for the 28 weeks to September 29 compared with net profit of £302 million during the first half of its 2011/12 financial year. Sales rose 4.0 percent to £13.36 billion pounds during the company\'s first half. \"Sainsbury\'s has made a strong start to the year, delivering continued outperformance in what has remained a challenging market,\" chairman David Tyler said in the company\'s earnings statement. Chief executive Justin King added that Sainsbury\'s \"share of the grocery market is the highest for almost a decade at 16.7 percent, with 31 consecutive quarters of like-for-like sales growth.\" Sainsbury\'s is the third-biggest supermarket chain in Britain after Walmart-owned Asda and the country\'s biggest retailer Tesco.