Sainsbury’s beat forecasts by reporting pretax profit at £373 million in the 28 weeks to September 29. First-half sales rose four per cent to £13.4 billion as Sainsbury’s increased its market share to 16.7 per cent, its highest for nearly a decade. Chief executive Justin King rejected rumours he might be about to leave Britain’s No.3 grocer, as strong growth at convenience stores and online helped it to outshine market leader Tesco with higher profit.