SHARES in Iceland slipped 9 to 184p yesterday as the frozen food retailer reported dull first-half profits of £33.6m, a rise of 4.7pc, and flat like-for-like sales.
Chairman Malcolm Walker described the sales performance as "a little disappointing" and reinforced the lacklustre picture by revealing that comparable sales in the second half are so far 31/2pc behind last year.
The figure includes price deflation of 11/2pc. Iceland is now pinning its hopes of a sales pick-up on a new marketing campaign to mark its 25th anniversary.
The group also said it was facing difficulties in finding enough sites in Britain.
Mr Walker said the group, which withdrew last year from a failed foray into France, had traded well in Northern Ireland for the last two years and was expanding into the Republic of Ireland next year.
Despite the weak profits, Iceland maintained its commitment to cutits dividend cover by pushing up the interim, payable on November 20, by 25pc to 1.65p.
