Scotmid Co-operative has reported a 1.4% rise in annual turnover although trading profit dropped by 7% on the back of increases in the National Living Wage.
For the year ending 28 January 2017, turnover increased by £6m to £376m while trading profit fell from £5.7m to £5.3m, the Society announced today.
It said it dealt with a period of unprecedented uncertainty, significant cost increases from the National Living Wage and a lacklustre retail market over the past year.
John Brodie, Scotmid’s chief executive, said its convenience stores tackled this challenge by adapting to changing customer requirements, “driven by the popular food-to-go lines and excellent local products”.
“Last year will be characterised as a year of unprecedented uncertainty influenced by the Brexit Referendum and the US election result,” he added.
“I expect this political and economic uncertainty to continue in 2017 as the United Kingdom negotiates the terms of exit. Additionally, the ongoing cost challenge of the National Living Wage will be magnified by further costs arising from the apprenticeship levy and the recent rating revaluation.
“Consequently, 2017 will be another challenging year. In response to this generally unfavourable background, Scotmid will continue to seek out new sales initiatives or innovative cost control measures as part of our continuous improvement philosophy which has served the Society well for a number of years.”
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