Co-op group reports successful rescue as turnaround programme bears fruit
The Co-operative Group says it has successfully completed the rescue phase of its Rescue, Rebuild, and Renew turnaround programme in its final results for the year ended 3 January.
Due to complete in 2017 the three-year plan has seen the group move onto the rebuild component, after returning to profit before members payments to the tune of £124m - after racking up a £255m loss in 2013 – courtesy of revenue which hit £9.4bn.
Boosted by a sell-off of assets such as its farms and pharmacy businesses the group is now back in the black but warns that without these one-off sales it would, at best, have barely broken even.
Nevertheless positive signs of a pulse came in the form of a reduction in net debt from £1.4bn to £808m over the year and a ‘robust’ performance in food and funerals, offset by losses in general insurance.
Richard Pennycook, chief executive of The Co-operative Group, said: “We made solid progress in 2014 as we successfully concluded the Rescue phase of our turnaround. The hard work of Rebuilding The Co-operative Group for the next generation, and restoring it to its rightful place at the heart of communities up and down the UK, is now underway.”
The Co-op has endured a torrid few years as its flagging performance coincided with high-profile boardroom scandals after its former chairman Paul Flowers was outed as a drug addict.