Fresh food sales have driven the Henderson Group – owner of the Spar, Eurospar and Vivo brands in Northern Ireland –to record growth.
The company reported turnover up six per cent to £699.3m in 2016, with pre-tax profits rising 10.9 per cent to £23.9m.
Employment levels also reached 3,099 on the back of 270 new jobs created in 2015.
The group said that the key driver in the strong results was fresh food categories, which helped grocery sales to rise by 3.5 per cent and volumes to increase by over eight per cent. Retaining existing and recruiting new retailers to its symbol brands also played a major role.
Henderson Foodservice also saw 11 per cent growth, with a strong performance in all key markets but particularly the Republic of Ireland.
Ron Whitten, chef financial officer, said: “Strong like-for-like growth across all subsidiaries, high retention rates of existing retailers, recruitment of new retailers, coupled with significant investment by the group, directly within our company-owned stores as well as with its retail partners, has delivered additional sales of £40m.”
Sales and marketing director Patrick Doody added: “It was also another record year of investment by the group, with a spend of over £34m in store acquisitions, store refurbishments and head office infrastructure, designed to future proof the business to meet consumer and retailer demands going forward.
'In 2016, 16 new stores were opened under the group’s main retail brands. Spar and Eurospar, in particular, continue to dominate the local symbol group scene in Northern Ireland. A comprehensive strategic growth and profitability plan implemented in 2016, which included continued focus on delivering excellence in customer service, investing in our people, developing our information systems, maximising our operational efficiency, and enhancing our fresh food ranges and in-store proposition, continues to yield results as projected.”
