// McColl’s profits slashed by supply chain disruption
// Pre-tax profit down to £7.9m from £18.4m
// Revenue up 8.1%
// Like-for-like sales down 1.4%
McColl’s has blamed the disruption in its supply chain following Palmer & Harvey’s administration for the dramatic drop in full-year profits.
For the financial year ending November 25, the convenience grocery chain said pre-tax profit dropped down to £7.9 million from £18.4 million.
Meanwhile, like-for-like sales fell by 1.4 per cent.
However, McColl’s total revenue increased by 8.1 per cent to £1.24 billion.
“2018 was undoubtedly a challenging year, marked by supply chain disruption following Palmer & Harvey’s entry into administration and the accelerated transition to our new supply partner Morrisons,” McColl’s chief executive Jonathan Miller said.
“Despite this disruption, we continued to make progress against a number of our key strategic plans.
“We completed the rollout of 1300 stores to Morrisons supply in less than nine months, which represents a considerable achievement and provides us with a more secure supply chain and a higher quality chilled and fresh offer.
“We also continued to invest in our estate, with 59 convenience store refreshes completed in the year and 11 new stores acquired.
“We are a profitable and cash-generative business, and our priority for the year ahead is to rebuild operational momentum and we remain confident in delivering our strategic plans.”
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