J Sainsbury has confirmed the appointment of Justin King, a former Asda executive who now runs Marks & Spencer's food operations, as its new chief executive.
King will take up the role on March 29 next year, succeeding Sir Peter Davis, who takes over as chairman on Sir George Bull's retirement at that time.
Sir Peter said: 'Justin's early training with Mars and his food retailing experience with value oriented ASDA and quality focused Marks and Spencer makes him the ideal candidate for Sainsbury's.'
Sainsbury says it will identify a new non-executive deputy chairman by April 2004.
This morning the group reported a 7% increase in underlying pretax profit to £366m. Sales grew by 1% to £9.84 billion.
Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer confirmed that Justin King, executivedirector of food, has resigned and Maurice Helfgott, currently director of menswear, has been appointed to the board with responsibility for food.
