Bestway Wholesale sees 11% rise in turnover and 90% uplift in profits

Bestway Wholesale achieved an 11% rise in turnover to £2.94 billion in the year ended 30 June 2022, while profit before tax increased by 90% to £70.8 million.

Zameer Choudrey: The full-year impact of the acquisition of Costcutter contributed to the increases in sales and profits.

“The increase in revenue was driven by the full-year impact of the acquisition of Costcutter, as well as underlying like-for-like sales growth driven by inflation alongside increased demand in independent convenience retail, due to customers choosing to shop more local,” said group chief executive Zameer Choudrey.

“The increase in profitability has been driven by the full-year impact of the acquisition of Costcutter and the delivery of associated scale benefits. The increase in profit has also been driven by improved margin rates due to continuous review of the business’s pricing and promotional strategy. The business has also benefited from operational efficiencies through reorganising delivery processes and restructuring back-office operations.”

Choudrey continued: “The wholesale business has retained the agility it showcased during COVID, which has been much needed with the supply chain challenges that have continued to affect the market.

“The business remains focused on being our customers’ partner of choice and on delivering strong value and stock availability to its customer base.

“Trading conditions in the UK remained challenging. Although the market adjusted to a new normal in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the business still had to contend with a number of material issues such as continued National Living Wage increases as well as the operational impacts of Brexit.

“The market conditions in the wholesale sector remain challenging, with supply chain and staff availability issues persisting and with the UK market entering into a high inflation environment.

“Despite these challenges, Bestway Wholesale has remained committed to its strategic plan of offering improved service and convenience to customers. Management has completed the integration of the both Bestway Retail and Costcutter Supermarkets Group into the business and delivered another year of strong growth.”

Looking ahead, Choudrey added: “The wholesale business will continue to focus on growing share in a competitive market by leveraging its scale infrastructure. The business will also be focused on delivering operational efficiencies and on providing customers with the best price and availability to support end-customers, given the increase in the cost of living.”

For Bestway Group as a whole – comprising Bestway Wholesale, Well Pharmacy, Real Estate, Bestway Cement (in Pakistan), United Bank (in Pakistan) and Bestway Foundation – turnover for the year ended 30 June 2022 totalled £4.51 billion compared to £4.29 billion in the previous year, an increase of 5% driven by increases in all businesses.

Profit before tax totalled £398.8 million compared to £334.0 million in the previous year, an increase of 19%.

The results were published as news broke of Bestway Group purchasing a 3.45% stake in Sainsbury’s.

Bestway intends to hold the 80.7 million shares for investment purposes and may look to make further market purchases of Sainsbury’s shares ‘from time to time, subject to availability and price’.

Bestway confirmed that it is not considering an offer for Sainsbury’s, but it took the unusual step of telling institutional shareholders in Sainsbury’s who are interested in selling their shares to contact the broker Redburn.