Booker’s plans to integrate Makro are ‘on track’
Charles Wilson, Booker chief executive, said: “Our plans for bringing Booker and Makro together are on track. We are continuing to improve the choice, prices and service to catering, retailing and small business customers in the UK.”
The firm revealed total sales, including Makro, were up by 19.3% for the 12 weeks to September 13, compared with the same period last year.
Excluding Makro, like-for-like sales were 3.5% higher with non-tobacco like-for-likes up by 6.9%.
Cash-and-carry division
Its cash and carry division, Booker Wholesale, had a good half, with the warm summer helping to generate strong sales, said the firm.
Booker’s foodservice business Chef Direct and its delivered wholesale division Booker Direct were also making good progress, it claimed.
Net cash was £123M compared with £70M a year ago. The total included £12M from the sale and leaseback of two cash-and-carries. The outlook for the year remained unchanged, said the firm.
Nicola Mallard, analyst with Investec, did not expect the Makro acquisition to make much impact on profit in the first half. But “growth from Booker will drive the profit before tax – we forecast by about 8% [to £55M]”, she said.
Investec retained its ‘buy’ recommendation on Booker’s stock. Booker will announce interim results for the 24 weeks to September 13 on Thursday October 17
In April, Shore Capital analysts Clive Black and Darren Shirley issued a ‘sell’ recommendation on the firm’s stock because of its high valuation.
