Own brand products account for 20 per cent of 2022 sales at Co-op

Co-op reported a modest increase in revenue in its Food and Wholesale business for 2022, driving mainly on the back of its own brand range.

Nisa’s sales of Co-op branded products grew by 12.5 per cent in 2022 to £199 million (2021: £176.6m) and now represents 20 per cent of total sales, excluding tobacco. 91 per cent of Nisa partners now stock Co-op own brand products, the retailer added.

Food revenue was up by £134m to £7.81 billion (2021: 7.67bn), and Wholesale revenue was up by £53m to £1.44bn (2021: £1.39bn).

The number of transactions a week has increased by 5 per cent to 16.4 million.

The retailer has also reported continued expansion of online business, through website and partners, with revenues up 24 per cent to £222m (2021: £179m).

The total group revenue stood at £11.5bn, up £0.3bn from 2021. Underlying operating profit stayed the same at £100m. Both revenue and underlying profit were impacted by the sale of the petrol forecourt business which completed in October.

Group pre-tax profit was £247m, up by £190m, which includes £319m of profit from the sale of the petrol forecourt business.

“It’s clear that our early action to significantly reduce our debt, improve our cash position, and tighten cost controls, has made a significant difference to the financial strength of our Co-op and has enabled us to look forward with confidence, despite continuing market uncertainty,” Shirine Khoury-Haq, Co-op chief executive, commented.

For 2023, the co-operative said it expects the volatile external environment and turbulent economic headwinds, including inflationary pressures to continue, with costs arising from the measures to tackle this are expected to “dampen profitability in the short-term.”