Sainsbury's sets up property arm

Sainsbury's has set up a new property arm to manage joint ventures and "maximize" the value of its assets in the sector.

Named Sainsbury's Property Investments, the new division will be managed by Peter Baguley, previously director of property at the supermarket giant, Property Week reports.

It has been created as a "dedicated resource to the ongoing management of the joint ventures and potential development opportunities to maximize value of it property assets," Sainsbury's said in a statement.

Current director of group finance John Rogers is to become property director, which will see the sector represented at board level in the company for the first time since 2002.

Sainsbury's, the UK's third biggest supermarket, has undertaken around £2 billion of asset management activity since March 2007.

The company announced yesterday that pre-tax profits for the 52 weeks to March 22nd 2008 had increased to £479 million from £477 million.
In addition, total retail sales over the period grew by £2.7 billion, beating a £2.4 billion target.

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