CJ Lang reports surge in profits as convenience market hots up

PROFITS at CJ Lang, the Dundee-based wholesaler and Spar master franchise holder for Scotland, have risen by 12 per cent after the firm was involved in £9 million of deal activity.

Accounts newly filed at Companies House reveal the family-run firm made a profit of £1.2m on the sale of its cash and carry business to Yorkshire-based Batleys for £5.3m in November 2010 and that it paid £3.3m to buy AM Landsburgh, a Fife-based chain of ten convenience stores, in April 2011.

Both deals were reported when they occurred but the accounts for the year to 30 April made the figures involved public for the first time.

Turnover fell to £208.5m after the sale of the cash and carry unit compared with £256.6m before the deal. Pre-tax profits rose to £5.5m from £4.9m following the sale and the acquisition.

The company declared two interim dividends of £560,000 each, matching the previous year’s total. Chairman Joan Scott-Adie received £572,600 in pay-outs, with other members of her family sharing the rest.

CJ Lang bought a total of 18 Spar shops over the year to take the company-run total to 108. The firm also supplies a further 300 stores that trade under the Spar brand but are owned by individuals or other small chains.

Company secretary Scott Malcolm said the sale of the cash and carry business had allowed CJ Lang to focus on promoting its Spar shops. Deal activity in the convenience store sector is hotting up, with Kinross-based David Sands being sold last month to the Co-operative and Scotmid buying Blantyre-based Botterills in late 2010.