Co-op Group trumpets £35m spin off for members as it offloads final shareholding in bank

The Manchester-based Co-op Group says its strategy of championing a better way of doing business for its members and their communities has paid off to the tune of £35m.

Members benefited through member rewards scheme by £29m and a further £6m has gone to some 4,000 good causes.

The group also revealed in its half year results that is has sold its remaining 1% holding in the troubled Co-operative Bank to an existing shareholder. In June, the bank agreed a £700m rescue with its lenders that reduced Co-op Group’s stake in the bank from 20% to 1%.

Pre-tax profits for the six months to July rose year-on-year by 47% to £25m (H1 2016: £17m) while revenue was stable at £4.6bn.

More than 500,000 people became members in the half year – 1.1 million since September 2016 – while debt has been maintained below the £900m guidance level at £680m.

Meanwhile, the company opened 34 food stores and 27 funeral homes in the period.

It also played a full role in the successful recapitalisation of The Co-operative Bank, and has subsequently sold its remaining 1% holding in the bank.

Reported food sales were down 1.2% at £3.48bn but 0.7% higher year-on-year when excluding the sales from the 298 stores sold to McColl’s during the first half of the year.

Funeralcare revenues were up 1.2% to £166m with market share increasing to 16.4%, supported by growth of its Simple Funeral offer.

The Co-op has also seen the number of women exceed men on the executive team for the first time.

Pippa Wicks is continuing as deputy group chief executive; Jo Whitfield has been appointed chief executive of Co-op Food; Helen Webb has become chief HR officer and Helen Grantham has been made permanent group secretary and general counsel.

Co-op Group chief executive Steve Murrells said: “Championing a better way of doing business for our members and their communities is what the Co-op is all about and I’m delighted that we are really starting to deliver on that purpose.

“Since we launched our member reward scheme in September, 2016 more than 1.1 million people have signed up to join the Co-op.

“As a result, we’ve been able to give £35m back to our members and their communities over the first half of this year, a conscious decision to share our success with our members and the 4,000 good causes which mean so much to them.

“We can do all this because our businesses have continued to perform in the face of challenging markets.

“Food has posted a 14th consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth, Funeralcare continues to lead the market on the back of the launch of our Simple Funeral offer and our Insurance business continues to lead on making driving safer for the young.

“Across our business we are also maintaining our commitment of re-investing for the future success of our Co-op.”