Sainsbury aspires to ‘greatness’

J Sainsbury PLC has reported flat underlying half-year profit but insists it is still on track to deliver a promised turnaround

J Sainsbury PLC has reported flat underlying half-year profit but insists it is still on track to deliver a promised turnaround. It made an underlying operating profit of £163m in the six months to October 8, while like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, were up by 2.1%. But the company said that its recovery plans, launched in October last year under the Making Sainsbury’s Great Again banner, were on target following three consecutive quarters of like-for-like sales growth.

“The improvements in pricing and availability that Sainsbury has made in the past 12 months have brought cause for cautious optimism at Sainsbury’s Holborn HQ, though there is much more work to do,” says Gavin Rothwell, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research.