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Sainsbury’s has slumped to a £261m loss despite bumper food and Argos sales during the coronavirus pandemic.
The supermarket giant said that in the year to 6 March Covid costs “to help keep our colleagues and customers safe” had been “high”.
However, it said it expected profits to bounce back in the coming year.
Rival Tesco reported a sharp fall in profits earlier this month after spending nearly £900m to carry on trading during the pandemic.
Sainsbury’s said it had spent £485m on Covid-related costs, including paying colleagues that were required to shield or needed to self-isolate.
It also paid back business rates relief on its stores in line with rivals.
Sainsbury’s £261m pre-tax loss for the year was despite like-for-like sales rising 8.1%.
Argos did especially well, with total sales rising almost 11%.
