Booker takes hit but flags growth
The recovery programme at troubled foods group Booker is ahead of expectations and long-suffering shareholders can expect growth to resume next spring, it said today.
Half-year results, however, were devastated by £147.1 million net exceptional loss linked to a flood of disposals to reduce the company's debt, losses chief executive Stuart Rose pinned squarely on a previous management team which had overpaid for acquisitions but left with large pay-offs earlier this year.
'You have to blame the previous management but I hope we are past that phase now. Nobody likes to inherit a situation where basically you have ended up paying a lot of shareholders' funds for assets which you subsequently realise you make a loss on, but it does happen and it has happened,' he said.
At operating level, profits picked up as price cuts helped stabilise core sales, but on a pre-tax basis there was a loss in the 24 weeks to 11 September of £129.3 million against a £47.2 million profit last year.
Sales on continuing operations were stable at £1.612 billion but disposals reduced total group revenue to £1.83 billion from £2.4 billion.
Rose said it was too early in the recovery cycle to resume dividends. Losses per share were 59p.
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