Sainsbury's delivers profit warning

Sainsbury's has issued a dire profit warning for the half-year ending October 9 in advance of its strategic update next week.

The retailer said its profits for the period would be between£125 million and£135 million for the period, against£366 million for the same period last year.

Numis analyst Iain McDonald was unsurprised by the news. He said: 'It appears to be a given that there is a huge profits warning on the way from Sainsbury's. We would not be surprised to hear a major kitchen sinking exercise [with the retailer's strategic review on October 19].'