The British supermarket group Sainsbury closed the first half of its broken financial year with a considerably lower profit than a year earlier. Among other things, the company faced higher marketing expenses and delays in its plans to reduce costs. Furthermore, the weather was a lot clearer for the company a year earlier.
The underlying profit before tax from Sainsbury fell by 15 percent to £ 238 million (€ 276 million). The company performed better than expected on average by market researchers. Comparable sales, excluding fuel sales, decreased by 1 percent.
The profit fall of Sainsbury comes when the group tries to regain confidence in the strategy. The big grocer has meanwhile announced a major store renovation. Earlier this year, Sainsbury was faced with a major setback when the planned merger with Walmart subsidiary Asda did not receive approval from the UK competition authorities.
Maurice Esma, a co-founder of EconomicInform is a freelance journalist with the expertise in international finance and corporate rights. The author can be reached by email maurice.eisma@economicinform.com
