Sainsbury's sales fall as King steps down

London - Britain's J Sainsbury posted a second straight fall in quarterly underlying sales as chief executive Justin King prepares to step down from the grocer after 10 years at the helm.

The group, which trails market leader Tesco and is battling with Walmart Stores' Asda to be the UK's number two supermarket, said sales at stores open over a year fell 1.1%, excluding fuel, in the 12 weeks to June 7, its fiscal first quarter.

That compared to analysts' forecasts of down 0.5% to 1.5% and a fall of 3.1% in the fourth quarter of Sainsbury's 2013 to 2014 year.

The fourth quarter decline followed unbroken positive sales for the best part of nine years.

King will be succeeded by commercial director Mike Coupe following Sainsbury's annual shareholders' meeting on July 9.

The group's total first quarter sales rose 1.0%, excluding fuel.

Sainsbury's said it was confident it would outperform supermarket peers through the remainder of the year.