Sainsbury to raise £445 million

British supermarket chain J Sainsbury plans to raise £445 million by selling shares and convertible bonds to accelerate its expansion, it said today, as it posted first-quarter sales at the top end of expectations.

The 140-year-old firm, which runs over 500 supermarkets and almost 300 convenience stores, said it planned to grow selling space by 15 per cent, or 2.5 million sq ft, by March 2011.

It also said like-for-like sales excluding fuel and VAT sales tax rose 7.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to June 13th.

Analysts forecast an increase of between 7 and 7.8 per cent, with an average of 7.3 per cent, in a Reuters poll of six.

Reuters