…so in summary.
It has been a very busy six months. We have negotiated two major transactions that will help transform the long term growth prospects for the Group. Whilst conducting these major activities and in a challenging environment our key health and beauty businesses have continued to grow strongly.
In addition we have managed our gross margin, delivered significant productivity savings and controlled our working capital. All this has been done while maintaining a high rate of momentum and progress against the clear plans we set out to build a better Boots.
We have been disciplined so that no single activity has diverted attention away from our overall day-to-day running of the business and that commitment and focus will remain in the second half.
Thank you for your time and we now look forward to answering your questions.
