About us

We are the UK's fourth largest food retailer by sales, with an annual turnover in excess of £17bn. We have 475 stores across Britain, ranging in size from 3,000 to over 40,000 square feet. Over 11 million customers visit our stores each week, served by more than 131,000 employees.

Our business

We are proud of what makes us different - a distinctive offer to customers centred around fresh food, craft skills and food production through our manufacturing business; the way we lead and support our colleagues; and our unique heritage. It is our vision to be 'Different and Better than Ever', being 'different' means building on these advantages; and being 'better than ever' is about improving the way we do business.

Our strategy

We have developed a strategy based on our view of how the market will evolve, what will be most appealing to our customers and how we make best use of our internal capabilities. Our strategy is based on six convictions and we have a clearly defined set of initiatives that will deliver our strategy grouped by our objectives of 'driving the topline', 'increasing our efficiency' and 'capturing growth'.

Our financial performance

Our financial performance in 2011/12 was strong in what remains a challenging environment for the consumer. We continued to invest in the long term growth of the business and to deliver increasing returns to shareholders, whilst maintaining a strong balance sheet. The business is well placed to deliver sustainable long term growth.

Note: Throughout the Directors' report and business review

  • (1) Unless otherwise stated, 2011/12 refers to the 52 week period ended 29 January 2012 and 2010/11 refers to the 52 week period ended 30 January 2011. 2011 and 2012 refer to calendar years.
  • (2) Underlying profit is defined as profit before one off costs and credits, property transactions and IAS19 pension interest, as reconciled in note 1 of the Group financial statements.

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Financial performance

Group turnover

£17.7bn up 7%

Like-for-like sales (ex-fuel, ex-VAT)

1.8%

Profit before tax

£947m up 8%

Basic earnings per share

26.7p up 11%

Net debt

£1,471m

Total dividend per share

10.7p up 11%

 

Business and strategy review