Acquisition sees McColl's ‘step up in sales and profitability’ as revenues reach £1.13bn

McColl’s Retail Group plc has given its revenues a boost on the back of acquiring hundreds of Co-Op convenience stores.

The deal increased McColl’s turnover to £1.13bn in the 12 months to November 26 2017, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%.

Profit before tax for the period rose 4% to £18.4m.

McColl’s acquisition of assets from Co-Op saw its portfolio grow by 298 stores and its workforce by 3,000 employees.

Completed in mid-July last year, the deal increased the firm’s net debt from £37m at the end of 2016 to £142.2m in November.

McColl’s chief exec Jonathan Miller said: “We have delivered a strong financial performance with a step-up in sales and profitability propelled by our acquisition of 298 convenience stores, and by surpassing £1bn in annual revenues for the first time we have demonstrated that this is now a business of real scale.

“Our convenience-led strategy continues to bear fruit, reflected by a sustained improvement in gross margin as we strengthened our product mix and the proportion of convenience stores has grown to 80% of our estate.”

He continued: “Continuing this momentum, this year we will significantly enhance our customer offer as we transition supply in over 1,300 stores to Morrisons and exclusively launch hundreds of new Safeway branded products at McColl’s.

“We will also further invest and improve the quality of our estate by extending our successful convenience store refresh programme to 100 additional stores this year.”

Speaking further, Mr Miller said 2018 is due to be “another busy year” for the company, adding: “I remain confident and excited about our future.”