Sainsbury(US:JSAIY)2023-11-04 21:38Financial Performance - The company's retail underlying operating profit increased to £485 million in H1 23/24 from £477 million in H1 22/23[24] - The underlying profit before tax remained flat at £340 million for both H1 22/23 and H1 23/24[25] - Retail free cash flow decreased from £759 million in H1 22/23 to £520 million in H1 23/24[28] - Basic earnings per share decreased slightly from 112 pence in H1 22/23 to 105 pence in H1 23/24[29] - The interim dividend per share remained constant at 39 pence for both H1 22/23 and H1 23/24[29] Sales and Market Share - Grocery volume share has shown consistent growth, reaching 118% in H1 23/24[5] - Total retail sales (excluding fuel) increased by 77% in H1 23/24 [23] - Total retail sales (including fuel) increased by 26% in H1 23/24 [23] Strategic Initiatives and Progress - The company has achieved significant cost savings, with £11 billion in cost savings delivered since March 2021 [98] - The company is improving its price competitiveness, with price index improvements against Aldi (1600bps), Tesco (220bps), and Lidl (1270bps) [9, 10, 11] - Online sales are back in growth, with a 78% increase in items picked per hour in Q2 YoY [80] Financial Services - Financial Services underlying operating profit decreased from £19 million in H1 22/23 to £13 million in H1 23/24[25] - Total customer lending in Financial Services decreased from £51 billion to £48 billion [33]