Nisa back in the black on eve of Sainsbury’s deal

Convenience store chain Nisa is back in the black on the eve of a £130m takeover by supermarket Sainsbury’s.

Nisa reported £2.8m pre-tax profits for the year to 2 April, compared to a loss of £5.4m in 2016, despite revenues dropping to £1.3bn, a decline of 2.6%.

Nisa said this was down to the demise of the My Local chain.

It was immediately hit by controversy, with nearly 300 head office staff saying they are being denied annual bonuses despite hitting performance targets, according to the Guardian.

Nisa staff reportedly shared £2.2m last year, including a £300,000 bonus for chief executive Nick Read.

The Scunthorpe retailer and wholesale group is on the verge of being sold to Sainsbury’s in a deal to rival Tesco’s acquisition of Booker. Co-op and Morrisons were reportedly also in the running for the business, which operates 3,500 stores across the UK and has around 1,400 members.

Though dwarfed by the £3.7bn Booker deal, the reported £130m acquisition marks the latest period of consolidation in the sector, as it becomes a battleground for the Big Four supermarkets who have been struggling to keep up and diversify in the face of the growth of discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Last year Sainsbury’s acquired Argos in a £1.4bn deal.

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