Justin King, presenting J Sainsbury's 2007-08 results yesterday, had many reasons to congratulate himself. The demanding goals set when he took over the (then) struggling UK supermarket chain in 2004 have been comfortably met. Sales have risen by £2.7bn and nearly £500m of costs have been cut. The company attracted a bid last summer - albeit one that was not successfully closed. Sainsbury's investors should feel Mr King has justified the £3.5m worth of shares he will be awarded this month for achieving his targets.

Or should they? Mr King cannot reasonably be blamed for the roughly one-third fall in the shares since the euphoria of last summer: the bid was scuppered, it seems, by Sainsbury family shareholders. But in terms of financial performance, Sainsbury has been running to stand still. In the year ended March 31, Sainsbury had operating profits of £540m. Four years ago, in the year ended March 31 2004, underlying operating profits were £564m (excluding the since sold US operations and now deconsolidated banking unit).