Musgrave Group has announced its ninth year of consecutive profit growth for the year ended December 31 2007.
Sales across the group were up six per cent to €4.9 billion (£3.9bn), while profit before tax rose by €94 million.
Musgrave Group supports nine retail brands across the Republic of Ireland, the UK and Spain. The group’s retail partners operating under these brands reported strong growth in 2007 with combined turnover of €7.2 billion, up seven per cent on the previous year.
In the UK, retail sales of Musgrave’s independent retail partners grew by 13 per cent to €2.9bn (£2bn).
The sale of Budgens stores to independent retailers was completed 12 months ahead of schedule, while in Northern Ireland, Musgrave acquired J&J Haslett which includes the Mace brand, XL Stop and Shop and Holmes cash and carry. Overall, store numbers increased by nine per cent to 2,544.
Looking ahead, Musgrave has committed to a three-year programme of substantial capital investment - in excess of £40m - on IT and logistics.
A statement said: “Musgrave’s retail partners own their own stores, employ local people, source from local suppliers and support local communities through charity and sponsorship work thereby contributing to the social and economic well being of those communities.
“Musgrave Group is committed to supporting its retail partners in delivering community based retailing. The Group and its retail partners make a significant contribution to the national economy as well as local economies across the country and are committed to continuing with this investment in the future.”
The statement added: “Sustainability is also central to the business with a focus on reducing the environmental and economic costs of our operations. In 2007, 66 per cent of waste was diverted from landfill to recycling. We have recently signed a green energy deal which will mean all of our warehouses and office facilities in the Republic of Ireland will emit zero carbon from an electricity perspective. Also, we have reduced annual transport movements by more than 1m kilometres - the equivalent of removing 30,000 cars from our roads annually.
Commenting on the outlook for the group in 2008, Chris Martin, group chief executive of Musgrave, said: “We face a more challenging economic environment but remain confident for our business. We are continuing to focus on our strategy of delivering long-term sustainable growth.
“Although, each of our brands is different there is a common theme to their uniqueness in that they are all rooted in the local community. This means that as well as delivering local services they also support local ownership, local employment and local sourcing.
“For 2008, our investment priorities will be focused on our brands and the people and logistics which support our retail partners enabling them to deliver quality, honestly priced food to consumers everyday.”
