Decreasing tobacco sales led to a dip in Booker sales for the first half of the year.
In the Tesco interim results, Booker’s like-for-like sales dropped 2.6% compared to the same period last year, with the division recording £163m profit. The bulk of the drop came from its core catering sales as opposed to its retail sales however tobacco sales plummeted 8,9% year-on-year.
Commenting on the results, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said “Booker made underlying progress during the period, with our year-on-year performance predominantly reflecting a contract change in Core retail, a challenging base in Core catering, and ongoing decline in the tobacco market.
“Booker operating profit was in line with last year, with better buying and continued delivery of our Save to Invest programme helping to offset the impact of lower sales and ongoing operating cost inflation.”
The group bolstered its estate with the addition of a further 275 net new retail partners during the period.
It was highlighted that core retail like-for-like sales declined due to the exit of a lower-margin national account in August 2025, and excluding this impact, core retail like-for-like sales grew 1.4%.
The results also flagged that Londis was recognised as ‘Symbol/Franchise Retailer of the Year’ at The Grocer Gold Awards.
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