Booker shrugs off retail gloom with sales up 9.5%

BRITAIN'S biggest cash-and-carry wholesaler today defied the retail sector gloom with strong sales, boosted by record- breaking weather and extra bank holidays.

Booker, which runs more than 170 branches in the UK and recently opened in India, saw sales rise by 9.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 June, with like-for-like sales up 7.4 per cent.

Chief executive Charles Wilson said the firm had made good progress over the period with like-for-like non-tobacco sales up by 5.7 per cent, while sales overall had been boosted by a large increase in tobacco duty.

He added that after the good start Booker is on course to meet expectations for the full year to next March. As well as supplying more than 70,000 retail customers, including convenience stores, the firm is the UK's largest food supplier to the cinema sector and also supplies prisons, Marks & Spencer and more than 300,000 catering customers, including pubs, restaurants and catering outlets.

Shares in the group hit a 12-month high after the update and have now risen by almost 80 per cent over the past year.

Dave McCarthy, analyst at Evolution Securities, said the growth in sales compared well to declines for the industry overall, though he did not change his profit forecast of 85 million this year. He said: "We find it hard to imagine a better story - Booker has the best management, the best assets and the most resources in its space. It is a natural winner."