Midcounties Co-oprative sees strong H1 as sales rise 36%
THE Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative society in the UK, has grown sales by 36% in its first six months.
The business saw revenue increase to £593m in the six months to July 27, 2013 after strong performances from its Childcare, Energy and Travel trading groups.
Operating profit was up by 16% at £12m during the period and the society is now generating over a billion pounds of gross sales annually following a sustained acquisition and growth strategy.
The society’s Food business increased sales by 8% to £310m across its 240 stores in an increasingly competitive retail grocery sector. The rise in sales was supported by the contribution from six new stores acquired from the Harry Tuffins business in May last year.
Co-operative Energy delivered strong growth with the number of domestic and business customers it serves trebling. It now provides gas and electricity to almost 150,000 customers nationally.
The society’s Travel and Childcare groups also delivered significant growth. Travel’s sales jumped by 97% to £142m following store acquisitions and continued investment in the business, which now operates 60 travel shops and has a network of 80 home-based personal travel agents providing advice to customers.
Childcare, which now operates 50 nurseries nationally, increased revenues by 20% and launched a number of new learning and development initiatives for its colleagues.
Other trading groups – which include Pharmacy, Funeral, Flexible Benefits and Post Office – also made positive contributions to the society’s performance.
As part of its commitment to corporate responsibility, The Midcounties Co-operative volunteering programme saw the society’s colleagues give back 24,300 hours to its local communities and over £150,000 was raised for its charity partner, the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Ben Reid, chief executive, said: “Our half year results demonstrate the strength of The Midcounties Co-operative as a diversified, customer-focused, member-owned society. We have continued to invest in areas that will deliver long-term value for our members, such as the development of our fast-growing energy business. This investment is driving momentum in terms of sales growth and bottom line contribution.”
In outlook, he said he was encouraged by recent positive economic indicators, however, he warned the society’s markets would continue to be competitive.
