Financial summary
Q2 LFL sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 2.0%, the third consecutive positive quarter
H1 LFL sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 1.4%
Total turnover almost flat, down 0.4% to £8.03bn (2015/16: £8.06bn)
UPBT up 11% to £157m (2015/16 UPBT before restructuring costs: £141m), or up 34% including last year's restructuring costs (2015/16 UPBT: £117m)
Underlying EPS up 35% to 5.04p (2015/16: 3.73p)
Reported PBT up 13.5% to £143m (2015/16: £126m)
Free cash flow of £558m (2015/16: £479m)
Operating working capital improvement of £318m, two-and-a-half-year total £872m
Debt facilities redeemed: $250m USPP and £152m of sterling/euro bonds
Net debt reduced by £477m to £1,269m, below our year-end target
Interim dividend up 5.3% to 1.58p (2015/16: 1.50p)
