Britain's third-largest supermarket group J Sainsbury posted full-year profits in line with market expectations and said it would continue to invest in product availability rather than boost margins.
Sainsbury, which is showing early signs of a turnaround following a decade of underperformance, said that underlying pretax profits came in at £254m sterling, compared with analysts' forecasts of £255m.
The company took a £510m charge during the year linked to Chief Executive Justin King's recovery plan. Adjusted for this and proceeds from the sale of the Shaw's business in the United States, profits were cut to just £15m.
While same-store sales fell 0.4% during the year, total sales including new floor space rose 5.5% to £16.36 billion. Sainsbury recently announced that same-store sales had increased by 1.7% in the fourth quarter.
'We have made good progress and can see early signs of improvement in our customer offer (products on shelves) and sales. We are on track but still in the very early stages of a long-term recovery programme,' King said in a statement.
Echoing comments from other UK retailers, King said the trading environment was tough, but that it remained on track with the three-year recovery plan launched in October last year.
