By James Rodger
Sainsbury鈥檚 has issued a warning over retail taxes after a “high impact” National Insurance contributions rise. Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts says shoppers should be wary of loading retailers with more tax after the 鈥渉igh impact鈥. 鈥淸The government] have got to be cautious about the amount of cost coming into the industry,鈥 Mr Roberts, the chief executive of the supermarket group, which also owns the catalogue chain Argos and the furniture brand Habitat, said. Roberts said the government had 鈥済ot to understand how unfair a tax [business rates] are鈥 and 鈥渨hy it impacts jobs鈥. 鈥淚n all our discussions we have got to make sure there isn鈥檛 any further tax impact on the system,鈥 Roberts said. READ MORE Rachel Reeves set to cut cash ISA allowance from 拢20,000 on July 15 Sainsbury’s , which is rivalled by Tesco , Asda , Morrisons and more, said it had achieved the strong sales despite a 鈥渟ubdued, highly competitive and deflationary general merchandise market鈥 as it booked rapid growth in online sales and via its app. Sainsbury鈥檚 said it had cut prices compared with all 鈥渒ey competitors鈥. Aarin Chiekrie, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “While it鈥檚 still early in the group鈥檚 financial year, signs of an all-out price war among the major supermarkets hasn鈥檛 materialised.” The chain continues to expect to deliver Retail underlying operating profit of around 拢1 billion and Retail free cash flow of more than 拢500 million. Profit delivery will be supported by continued growth in Nectar profit contribution and industry-leading cost saving delivery and will be weighted more towards the second half versus last year. Mr Roberts said there was 鈥渁 lot for this year still to play out鈥. 鈥淲e have great momentum, growing faster than the market for three consecutive years and we are well set to deliver another strong performance over the summer. Boosted by a sunny spring, we鈥檙e already off to a great start,鈥 he said.