‘Exhilarating period’ for The Co-operative
THE CO-OPERATIVE Group has announced a 9.1% increase in group sales in the year to January 1 to £13.7bn, although pre-tax profits edged up by just 2% to £310.4m.
Sales in its food business were up by 4.8% to £7.5bn, while operating profits in the division increased by a third to £382.6m.
The organisation refitted a further 524 stores from its legacy Somerfield estate and said that all stores would be converted into its new format by April this year. The food business is also working with Co-operative Farms to boost the amount of fresh food grown on its farms sold in stores from 6.5% to 25% by 2015.
The financial services division increased revenues by 23.6%, while operating profits were up 17.7% to £208.8m. The two divisions also increased their own integration with more banking services now being offered in foodstores.
Overall, the Manchester-based mutual said that its balance sheet remains “strong and well-managed”, with net assets increasing to £76bn, from £75.1bn. The proposed dividend paid out to its consumer members is set to increase by 55% to £77.4m.
Group chief executive Peter Marks, who hails from Bradford, said that the year capped “a truly remarkable and exhilarating period for the group”, which marked the completion of a three-year plan set up when the group merged with United Co-Operatives in 2007.
“When we brought the two societies together we knew we were creating a business with the potential to radically reassert The Co-operative on the high street and drive the renaissance of the wider Co-operative movement.
“We set ourselves some very ambitious performance targets – and three years on, we have not only met but exceeded those targets against the backdrop of the economic downturn.”
He said the merger had allowed it to make the “ambitious and transformative” acquisitions of Somerfield in the food business and Britannia in financial services, but that the organisation would now begin a new phase – “working to ensure that we maximise the potential of the Co-operative family of businesses to better serve our 6.5m members”.
He said the organisation had hoped to see an economic recovery by the start of this year, but now expected “challenging trading conditions through to the end of this year and into 2012”.
“With consumers feeling the squeeze on their spending, I know that all of our businesses will have to fight for their market share.
“That means we must make even greater efforts to ensure we are responding to the needs of our members and customers and are giving them good reasons to continue to trade with us.”
