A strong Christmas period has seen Sainsbury's report record-breaking sales, reporting like-for-like sales increases of 0.9 per cent over the Christmas period.

Sainsbury's was the only one out of the ‘big four’ supermarkets to increase its market share over the festive period, with rivals including Morrisons experiencing a drop in sales of 2.5 percent.

Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury's, however acknowledged that the new year would represent a challenging time: “We expect the challenging economic backdrop to persist, with customers looking to re-balance their household budget after the festivities and so spending cautiously in the first few months of 2013".