Co-op benefits from strong food sales
The Co-op has increased its first half pre-tax profit to £26 million from £14 million in the same period in the previous year.
The group, which also operates funeralcare and iinsurance businesses, saw its total sales rise by 10% to £5 billion in the 26 weeks to 14 July as trade was boosted by a strong food sales performance and the acquisition of Nisa.
Food retail like-for-like sales climbed by 4.4% as core convenience like-for-like sales rose by 5.1%, Meanwhile, total food sales were up 3% to £3.6 billion as the retailer benefited from a successful World Cup offering. Underlying food operating profit increased by 23% to £80 million.
The Co-op said it now supplies food to over 7,700 Nisa stores and by the end of 2018 will supply 850 Co-op own-brand product lines to Nisa partners.
During the period the Co-op opened 45 new food stores. It also embarked on an exclusive partnership with Live Nation which helped it to reach 200,000 festival goers through pop-up shops.
Steve Murrells, Co-op chief executive, said: “We’re moving forward at pace with our Stronger Co-op, Stronger Communities plan, which we set out at the beginning of the year. We know that in order to make a difference, we have to be commercially successful and our performance in the first half shows that we’re delivering on that ambition. Our investment in products, price and distribution channels has seen us grow revenue, profit and member value in the first six months.”
