Wholesaler bucks tighter tobacco legislation as profits hit £88m

Wholesaler Booker Group, the owner of the Salford-based Makro business, has bucked tighter legislation for the sale of tobacco with 9% increase in pre-tax profits to £88m.

The company, which is awaiting the outcome of a Competition and Mergers Authority investigation into its planned merger with Tesco announced in January, has released figures for the six months to September 8, also show the company’s sales increased by a total of 2.5% to £2.6bn.

Non-tobacco sales were up 7.7% while tobacco was down 9%, the company said, because of the legislation changes.

Significantly, internet sales climbed 11% to 560m.

Provisional findings of the CMA probe are expected to be made public by the end the month with a final report due at the end of the year.

All being well, the merger will be complete in early 2018, the company said.

Booker chief executive Charles Wilson said: “The competition review of the planned merger with Tesco is progressing. We continue to help our retail, catering and small business customers prosper through improving our choice, prices and service.”