The Co-operative Group declared its Christmas performace “solid” against the backdrop of a tough trading environment exacerbated by severe weather conditions.
The retail group’s like-for-like sales fell by 0.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 Jan 2011. In food, like-for-like sales fell 3.2 per cent, as a result of the impact of the extreme weather on both footfall and spending patterns across the group’s national network.
The decline was also attributed to the “planned acceleration” of the programme to convert Somerfield stores to the Co-operative Group fascia.
During the period, close to 200 stores were closed on average for seven days a time to allow for full refits. Despite this the core convenience estate, which includes both Co-operative and Somerfield stores, saw like-for-like sales increase by two per cent.
Combined like-for-like sales in the group’s non-food businesses increased by 12.1 per cent with particularly strong sales performances from the online electrical, motor and travel operations.
Group ceo Peter Marks said: “We have delivered a solid trading performance across our retail businesses in a difficult environment. The exceptionally cold weather created logistical issues for our food stores - particularly given the sheer scale and geographic spread of our estate. Our people worked exceptionally hard to ensure that we provided a great service to all our customers - and the strong performance of our core convenience estate is a testament to all their efforts.
“The planned acceleration of the Somerfield conversion programme was an added issue - but this continues at pace and we remain on track to complete the process by Spring 2011.
“The performance of our non-food businesses was very strong overall and, together with the excellent progress made by our financial services business, we are confident that 2010 will have proved to be another record year for The Co-operative Group.”
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