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| Sainsbury's boss Justin King to step down in July | Sainsbury's boss Justin King to step down in July |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Sainsbury's has said that chief executive Justin King is to leave the supermarket chain in July, after 10 years at the head of the company. | Sainsbury's has said that chief executive Justin King is to leave the supermarket chain in July, after 10 years at the head of the company. |
| Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's group commercial director, will succeed him as chief executive, the company said. | Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's group commercial director, will succeed him as chief executive, the company said. |
| Sainsbury's chairman David Tyler said Mr King was "a truly exceptional leader", adding that he leaves "a lasting legacy". | Sainsbury's chairman David Tyler said Mr King was "a truly exceptional leader", adding that he leaves "a lasting legacy". |
| Mr King will leave the company after the annual general meeting on 9 July. | Mr King will leave the company after the annual general meeting on 9 July. |
| Mr King said: "This was not an easy decision for me to make, and in truth it will never feel like the right time to leave a company like Sainsbury's." | Mr King said: "This was not an easy decision for me to make, and in truth it will never feel like the right time to leave a company like Sainsbury's." |
| Leading the company had been a "privilege", he added. | Leading the company had been a "privilege", he added. |
| 'Top performer' | |
| Retail analyst Richard Perks told the BBC that Mr King had done "fantastic" things at Sainsbury's. | |
| "He's transformed the business into a top performer - in its sector it is market leader at the moment," he said. | |
| Mr Perks added that Mr King had expanded the company into non-food items, and successfully developed Sainsbury's Local branches. | |
| Regarding the challenge facing Mr King's successor Mr Coupe, Richard Perks said that his task was "huge". | |
| "We have to hope that Mike Coupe can fill those big shoes, but we probably won't know how he's really doing for two-to-three years". | |
| Sainsbury's said that under Mr King, sales had risen by a total of £9.5bn, while underlying profits had risen from £254m in 2004-05 to £756m in 2012-13. | |
| The supermarket chain, which has a 17% share of the UK's grocery market, is now worth about £6.8bn on the stock market. | |
| Sainsbury's share price hit a peak of about 600p in June 2007, but is now trading at around 346p, despite five consecutive years of profit growth. | |
| Shares in the supermarket fell more than 2% on the news of Mr King's departure. | |
| Competition | |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live earlier this month, Mr King said expanding brands within the Sainsbury's portfolio - such as the more upmarket Taste the Difference range - had proved to be a successful strategy. | |
| He added that consumer behaviour had changed as far as food shopping. | |
| "We've seen big trends in people shifting online, and for convenience stores. People are breaking up their shop now - doing a bit online, a bit at convenience stores" he said. | |
| Sainsbury's now has more convenience stores than supermarkets. | |
| When he was asked about the threat from competitors, Mr King said: "You have to enjoy the good times because there's always a bad one around the corner. We've fought hard for our position." | |
| There has been speculation that Mr King could be a possible future leader for Marks and Spencer, which is currently led by Marc Bolland, formerly of the Morrisons supermarket chain. | |
| However, Mr King told BBC Radio 5 live that he was not tempted by the thought. "It's not a job that interests me," he said. |