Nisa reports strong first half growth as it appoints interim CEO
Nisa Retail has reported a strong first half performance with total sales up 12.4% year-on-year to £728 million.
In the 26 weeks to 1 October, nob-tobacco sales edged up 0.8% to £505 million on a like-for-like basis while Nisa’s core retail trade showed a like-for-like uplift of 1.9%. Tobacco sales fell by 2.7%.
Nisa said the sales rise was driven by strong growth in new stores and new member recruitment, as well as existing members expanding their estates.
Earlier this month, Nisa announced that chief executive Nick Read would be stepping down and has now confirmed that Arnu Misra has been appointed to the role on an interim basis.
Misra has been an independent non-executive director at Nisa since November 2016. Prior to that, he held senior executive roles at Matalan, Asda, and Loblaw’s in Canada. He also spent six years as chief executive of private equity backed Cannons Health where he was credited with doubling the membership base before the company was sold to Nuffield Health.
Nisa chairman Peter Hartley said: “I am pleased to report strong trading in the first six months of the year. We have continued to serve our existing members well, and as a result new member recruitment has shown significant gains. We are delighted to have Arnu as interim chief executive; he has a wealth of retail experience and is ideally placed to lead Nisa as we seek to optimise the service, benefits and opportunities we can bring our members.”
