SUPERMARKET chain Somerfield claims to have stemmed the tide of falling sales, as it reported a loss for the past year of £13.1m.

Executive chairman John von Spreckelsen, who was brought in last year to revitalise the ailing chain, said: "The improving performance towards the end of the financial year has created stability.

"This has been on the back of improving like-for-like sales and a return to modest operating profits in the second half."

The group, which has seen troubled times since its merger three years ago with Kwik Save, showed pre-tax losses for the year to April 28 at £13.1m, hit by £4.6m of one-off costs.

That compares with a loss of £14.5m the previous year.

However, at the operating level, the group said it had moved from operating losses in the first half of the year to profits in the second half. Turnover came in at £4.61bn, against £5.47bn the previous year.

Somerfield said its focus over the past year had been to halt the sales decline and create stability - which it said had been achieved.