Sales grow at Booker
Wholesale giant Booker said that sales rose 6.2 per cent for the year to 25 March. Revenue hit £3.6bn at the Wellingborough-based company for the 52-week period, according to a trading update released this morning. The company also said internet sales increased by 29 per cent, accounting for £526m of total revenue.
Total like-for-like sales in the 52 weeks were up by 5.1 per cent. Customer numbers increased to approximately 459,000, added Booker.
Booker acquired two businesses in its last financial year, Ritter-Courivaud and Classic, which were purchased in October 2010. Both companies are performing in line with expectations, said Booker.
The company, whose brands include Happy Shopper, Chef’s Larder and Euro Shopper, said its international expansion into India was “encouraging”. Booker is currently in the process of setting up its second branch in Mumbai and its first joint venture branch.
At the year end, the group had about £27m net cash compared to £7m a year ago.
In the final quarter of the financial year, the 12 weeks to 25 March 2011, total sales rose by 6.4 per cent on the same period last year. Total like-for-like sales were up by 4.4 per cent. The company said that fruit and vegetable sales were up 52 per cent on the comparable 2010 period.
Charles Wilson, Booker's chief executive, said: “Booker continues to make good progress. In the last year customer satisfaction improved further, we served 28,000 more customers and increased turnover by more than £200m. Booker Direct is doing well, with Ritter-Courivaud and Classic fitting nicely into the group. Online sales have continued to grow strongly and India is encouraging. The UK economy is expected to remain challenging for the next year but we are committed to helping our customers prosper amid the economic uncertainties.”
He added that the company’s plans to ‘broaden’ the business remained on track.
