Sainsbury’s and Accenture Successfully Transition IT Functions Back to Sainsbury’s

LONDON, April 28, 2006 – Sainsbury’s and Accenture have today successfully migrated IT functions back to Sainsbury’s six months after agreeing to terminate their existing contracts. This has involved the transfer of all assets, third party contracts and approximately 470 colleagues into Sainsbury’s and the two parties agreeing the matters arising out of the IT outsourcing agreements to their mutual satisfaction.

Both parties have worked together for the last six months to ensure that customers, colleagues, IT development and the operational service provided have not been affected during this transfer. Christmas, in fact, saw the best levels of service in the past five years.

Sainsbury’s will take an exceptional item of circa £65 million as a result of the termination, which is in line with previous guidance. Sainsbury’s said that it expects that as a result of future cost savings the exit costs are expected to payback in less than two years.

As previously reported, Accenture does not expect the transition to have a negative impact on results from operations in its 2006 fiscal year.

Sainsbury’s and Accenture will continue to work together in developing some of Sainsbury’s IT systems and the ongoing provision of on-line services. Sainsbury’s newly formed in-house team is now focusing on supporting the Making Sainsbury’s Great Again plan.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 129,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$15.55 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2005. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Notes

  1. Sainsbury’s originally outsourced IT operations to Accenture in November 2000.
  2. The decision to terminate the outsource agreement was announced in 27 October 2005.
  3. The Making Sainsbury’s Great Again plan was announced on 19 October 2004.

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to Sainsbury’s and Accenture’s operations and results of operations, the accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and, in particular, in relation to Accenture the factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in the Business section of Accenture’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither Sainsbury’s nor Accenture undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in their respective expectations.

###

Mark Radvanyi

+44 (207) 844 5406

mark.radvanyi@accenture.com