British supermarket chain Sainsbury is to sell its US supermarkets to Albertsons Inc for $2.5 billion.
But shares in the company dropped nearly 6% in London on news that its profits would be hit this year and next, hurt by what it described as a 'more uncertain UK market' as well as the effect of the US sale.
Sainsbury said the sale of Shaw's supermarkets to Albertsons would allow it to invest more in its UK stores, which are trying to grab back market share from Tesco and Wal-Mart's Asda.
Sainsbury said it would return £680m of the Shaw's sale proceeds to shareholders, and reinvest the rest in its 550 UK stores.
It said underlying profits for the year to March 27 would be slightly lower than last year's £695m. Underlying profits were also likely to suffer in the following financial year, it added in a trading update.
