Co-op to ditch farms and may sell pharmacies too
THE Co-operative Group is to sell its farms and also possibly its chain of pharmacies as chief executive Euan Sutherland looks to cut costs and sharpen focus.
In a statement The Co-operative said: As part of the wider strategic review of all of its businesses, The Co-operative Group has decided that its Farms are non-core and has started a process that is expected to lead to a sale of the business.
“In addition, it is exploring options for the future of the Pharmacy business; this could include the sale in whole or part of the business.”
The Farms business – which comprises 15 large farms in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and East Anglia – grow some produce for the retail operation, but mostly produce cereal sold on the general market.
The 750-store pharmacies business, which has its main distribution base in Stoke-on-Trent, generated revenues of £764m in 2012 and is profitable.
Citing sources close to the group the BBC said the Co-op Group – which has had a tumultuous year with the near collapse of the bank – said a bottom line loss of nearly £2bn is expected when results are announced on March 26.
For the first half of 2013, Co-op Group generated a pre-tax loss of £559m, following a loss in the previous year of £648m.
The BBC said that over the next four year the group is planning to cut running costs by £500m, of which it has already identified £100m of savings. This will result in thousands of job losses, probably between 4,000 and 5,000 by 2017, especially in head office and in support positions.
