Discounts help Sainsbury outperform rivals A strategy combining discount coupons, the promotion of own-label products and more convenience-sized stores has pushed up sales at J Sainsbury, helping the British grocer outstrip rivals such as WM Morrison and Tesco. The UK's third-largest supermarket chain by market share on Wednesday reported a 1.7 per cent increase in sales from stores open at least a year in the 28 weeks to September 29. Even taking into account that extensions to stores contributed roughly half of that like-for-like sales growth, the figures outshone the 2.1 per cent second-quarter decline reported last week by Bradford-based Morrison, and Tesco's 0.1 per cent increase last month. We are in a market that has no growth at all. So a 1.7 per cent increase in like-for-like sales is a good beat," said Justin King, Sainsbury chief executive. Our market share is now 16.7 per cent, which is the highest for almost a decade. Mr King attributed much of that growth to discount programmes that he said helped attract budget-conscious shoppers from rivals" stores. Such has been the effectiveness of targeted promotions, that Morrison - previously a reluctant discounter - has begun issuing 10 per cent discount cards in an effort to tackle its shrinking sales. Sainsbury said that the recent development of its online and convenience stores business was a driving factor in the sales growth. The grocer opened 49 new convenience stores during the half, bringing the total to 487. First-half sales, excluding VAT, rose 4 per cent year-on-year to £12.2bn, while pre-tax profit edged up from £395m to £405m. Excluding exceptional costs, underlying pre-tax profit rose to £373m, edging past analysts" consensus forecasts of £371m. Diluted earnings per share increased from 15.9p to 16.8p. Mr King stonewalled rumours that he is poised to move on from Sainsbury, after almost nine years in the grocer's top job. I am not going to comment on speculation. I do understand that after a person is in the same job for eight or nine years and doing a good job that speculation arises. I am very happy at Sainsbury," he said. Speculation suggests that Mr King could flag his departure next year, for a handover in 2014. Possible successors include Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's trading director, and Kate Swann, outgoing chief executive of WH Smith. Sainsbury shares, which have outperformed rivals and the FTSE 100, fell back 1.4 per cent to 342.4p on Wednesday morning.