Great results from three retailers failed to lift the share price. The basket's had a flat month says Helen Gregory During the last month three of our retailers have posted significant profit gains, although it's had a negative or little effect on their share price. Indeed, overall our basket has dipped quite dramatically, with all the firms ­ except Dairy Crest ­ either dropping or rising only slightly. This week Sainsburys announced like-for-like sales up more than 6% to £571m and gave every impression of having turned the corner of recovery. News that it plans to target families on a budget with a different Savacentre format was fairly well received although some analysts raised doubts about the long- term potential after Sir Peter Davis indicated that growth in sales had slowed this financial year. Morrisons followed up its healthy profit report back in March with news that sales had risen 10.4% and were up 6.5% during the first 15 weeks of the year. And Safeway posted a 12.8% hike to £354m despite suffering a setback in sales due to its refurbishment programme, while rumours that Wal-Mart is looking to pounce on the chain seem to have died down. The next retail results are Somerfield on July 3 and the City will be looking for evidence of further improvements in trading from boss Alan Smith. On the manufacturing side, Dairy Crest will be next to announce its annual results on 13 June. The company stock is looking healthy and David Hallam at Williams de Broë said he expected the firm to turn in £73m ­ up from £57m last year. "They're going to be good, particularly because of the cost savings Dairy Crest has made." He attributed Cadbury Schweppes' drop in price to rumours that it planned to buy Adams Confectionery. "This created a bit of nervousness but it probably won't happen anyway." Last month Northern Foods' profits dipped 3% to £101m although its convenience foods business helped buoy sales. Hallam said news that one of its biggest customers, Marks and Spencer, was looking to open more Simply Food outlets should help the firm move volume. {{PORTFOLIO }}