Heavy losses are continuing to be incurred by the Safeway stores group in Northern Ireland, where it operates the former Wellworth outlets through a 50/50 joint venture with partner Fitzwilton.

Overall, the Northern Ireland stores suffered operating losses of £9.4 million sterling before interest and property costs on £146 million turnover, including VAT, in the year to end-March, reports Safeway in its full-year figures. This compares with losses of £8.9 million suffered on £64 million turnover in the months following the mid-1997 formation of the Safeway/Fitzwilton joint venture.