Financial summary
· Turnover up 7% to £17.7bn (2010/11: £16.5bn)
· Like-for-like sales (ex-fuel, ex-VAT) up 1.8% (2010/11: 0.9%)
· Underlying profits before tax up 8% to £935m (2010/11: £869m)(1)
· Profit before tax £947m (2010/11: £874m)
· Operating margin up by 20bps(2)
· Net debt £1,471m (2010/11: £817m) after capital investment of £901m (2010/11: £595m)
· Gearing of 27% (2010/11: 15%)
· Equity retirement £368m
· Basic earnings per share 26.7p (2010/11: 23.9p)
· Underlying earnings per share up 11% to 25.6p (2010/11: 23.0p)
· Total dividend for the year up 11% to 10.7p (2010/11: 9.6p) - dividend cover of 2.4 times
Operating highlights
· Record customer numbers - up 0.4m per week
· 34 new supermarkets opened(3)
· Own brand relaunched successfully through M Kitchen and M savers ranges
· Productivity improvements in stores (2.9%) and distribution (4.3%)
· HOT service programme delivering step-change in customer satisfaction(4)
· Significant progress in the systems replacement programme
· New South West regional distribution centre opened
