1st Mar 2016 09:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - McColl's Retail Group PLC on Tuesday reported growth in profit in its last financial year as it benefited from lower exceptional costs, while revenue was also boosted by acquisitions of convenience stores.
The convenience store operator said its pretax profit in the year ended November 29 grew to GBP21.1 million from GBP12.6 million the year before, as revenue rose 3.1% to GBP932.2 million from GBP922.4 million, boosted by acquisitions it made. Pretax profit also benefited from lower exceptional costs and reduced finance costs compared to the prior year.
Like-for-like sales, however, fell by 1.9%, mostly due to a 4.0% decline in standard convenience and newsagents, but also due to a 0.6% decreased in premium convenience and food and wine.
In the 13 weeks ended February 28, total like-for-like sales were down by 1.8%, in line with the previous quarter, as standard convenience and newsagents fell by 3.1% and premium convenience and food and wine fell by 1.1%. Total revenue, however, increased by 2.7%.
McColl's will pay a final dividend of 6.8 pence, leading to a total dividend of 10.2p, up from 8.5p the year before.
McColl's added that it is on track to reach a total of 1,000 convenience stores by the end of 2016. In the last financial year, it acquired 60 convenience stores, taking the current total to 893. It also disposed of 100 newsagents as part of its strategy to develop the convenience business.
"The market remains competitive and fast-changing but we are confident that our position and chosen direction will continue to stand us in good stead. Looking forward, we will press on with our growth plans as we make the most of bringing convenience to the UK's neighbourhoods," Interim Chairman Sharon Brown said in a statement.
Shares in McColl's were trading up 1.4% at 145.00 pence on Tuesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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