Northern retailer Booths saw profit fall from £3.1 million to £2.6m during the last year following flooding and other challenges caused by Storm Desmond.
Despite the profit dip, Booths celebrated “resilient sales” (down by 0.7 per cent) in a difficult year and challenging grocery market.
Sales were also held back by continued food deflation, and the closure of two key stores following the flooding in Booths’ heartland of the Lake District, the company said.
The forced closure of top-performing Keswick store for six months, as a result of the Storm Desmond flooding, reduced annual sales by 1.4 per cent. The retailer said it would have recorded a sales increase of +0.7 per cent, if it were not for the flooding over the crucial Christmas trading period.
Profit decline was driven by several one-off items, including £1.6m of restructuring costs, £1.4m of refinancing costs and a £6.7m non-cash impairment charge.
Booths CEO, Chris Dee, said teams have coped “admirably” in a year of enormous operational change. “We’ve closed stores, opened modern new stores, we’ve restructured our management teams and the business came together to rise to the challenges of delivering 2015 Christmas in the face of some of the worst flooding on record,” he said.
The business said it is optimistic about this year’s Christmas trading period, and is aiming to double sales of its own-label Booths Brand products over the next five years. It also has a rolling calendar of New Product Development planned for the next 18 months, and said sales of its recently revamped ready meal range have risen by 24 per cent.
“We’re investing in price and value, improving our ranges, delivering excellent customer service and upping the ante in our store environments,” Dee said.
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