Southern Co-operative has become the latest regional co-op society to report strong full-year trading figures.
The society, which has more than 250 stores across the south of England, said EBITDA rose 8.1% to £22.6m in the year to January 2014 on sales up 7.8% to £327m.
Chief executive Mark Smith said that since 2010 sales had grown by 34% and EBITDA by 46%. He also predicted its share of the profits to members and colleagues would be 2p in every £1.
“As a successful independent co-operative, our priority is to re-invest our profits back into the business for the long-term benefit of our members. Investment exceeded £30m in 2013,” Smith said.
“This strategic commitment to invest enabled us to open 26 new food stores and funeral homes during the last year, bringing the total to over 250. Investment in a new retail system will enable us to offer our customers better ranges more closely tailored to local demand and even higher levels of service.”
He added: “These positive results provide a strong foundation for further growth. Our exciting new strategic plan ‘Our Plan 2014-2016’ builds on this success and consolidates our business, environmental and wider social goals. Our 4,000-plus colleagues who deliver to our customers every day are key to achieving our ongoing success as an independent and sustainable business.”
Earlier this month, Heart of England Co-op reported a 2.2% increase in full-year sales, while Channel Islands Co-op reported a 0.5% rise.
However, they are in stark contrast to The Co-operative Group, which reported a 4.5% drop in sales and a pre-tax loss of £2.5bn in April.
This story was updated at 12.30 after Southern Co-op amended some of its figures.
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