Booker Group plc
Preliminary Results of Booker Group plc
for the 53 weeks ended 30 March 2012
This announcement contains the preliminary results of Booker Group plc ('Booker'), the UK's leading food wholesaler, for the 53 weeks ended 30 March 2012.
Financial Highlights
· Total sales for 53 weeks +9.4% to £3.9bn (2011: £3.6bn) (52 weeks: +7.3%)
· Like for like sales +6.1% (52 weeks)
- non tobacco +5.1% (2011: +5.3%)
- tobacco +7.8% (2011: +4.9%)
- sales to caterers +6.1% (2011: +6.3%)
- sales to retailers +6.1% (2011: +4.6%)
· Operating profit up 17% to £89.6m (52 weeks: up 16% to £88.6m)
· Profit before tax up 27% to £90.8m (52 weeks: up 26% to £89.7m)
· Profit after tax up 27% to £74.9m (52 weeks: up 25% to £74.0m)
· Basic earnings per share up 0.93 pence to 4.83 pence
· Net cash of £63.4m (2011: £27.1m)
· Proposed final dividend up 39% at 1.95 pence per share, making total dividend for the year of 2.28 pence per share, up 37%
Operational Highlights
· Improved customer satisfaction
· Customer numbers increased by 22,000 to 481,000
· 27 business centres converted to 'Extra' format, taking total conversions to 142 of the 172 business centres in the UK
· Internet sales up 21% (52 weeks) to £635m (2011: £526m)
· Booker Direct is performing well and the creation of "Chef Direct" to serve major foodservice customers remains on track
· Our Indian business continues to progress; our business centres in Mumbai and Pune are trading well
Outlook
The economy is expected to remain challenging in the year ahead and the food wholesale market remains very competitive. Nevertheless, we expect to continue to make progress in this difficult environment. Booker has made a good start to the current financial year, even compared to the very strong performance in the first seven weeks of last year and, in spite of the fact that tobacco sales have been slow, we remain on course to meet our expectations for the year.
Charles Wilson, Chief Executive of Booker, said:
"Booker made further good progress in 2011/12. Our plan to Focus, Drive and Broaden the business remains on track. Customer satisfaction improved again, helping us to service 22,000 more customers and grow sales by more than £260m. Internet sales grew 21% to £635m, Booker Direct continues to trade well and we are pleased with the performance of Booker India. We remain committed to helping our growing customer base to prosper in the year ahead."
