UK wholesaler Booker saw sales climb in its third quarter, ahead of the group's long-awaited merger with supermarket giant Tesco.
Booker's total sales were up by 3.4% compared to the same period last year, while like-for-like sales rose by 3.8%.
Non-tobacco sales increased by 5.9%, however, the group's overall performance was dragged down by its tobacco business, which saw sales decline by 2.6%.
The group added that both its catering and retail businesses made good progress in this quarter, with the Premier, Budgens and Londis banners performing well.
"Booker Group had another good quarter with like-for-like non-tobacco sales up 6.2%," said Charles Wilson, the group's chief executive.
"We continue to focus, drive and broaden our business to improve choice, prices and service for our customers."
Tesco Takeover
Booker's proposed merger with Tesco, the UK's largest grocer, received final approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in December, with the deal likely to be completed this year.
The wholesale group said today that it expects shareholders to vote to approve the move towards the end of February.
"The proposed merger with Tesco is progressing as planned," added Wilson. "We are very grateful for the support we have received from customers, suppliers, shareholders and colleagues during this process."
The £3.7 billion deal was first announced in January 2017, with Tesco CEO Dave Lewis saying that the merger would lead to the creation of “the UK's leading food business”.
However, the merger raised a number of competition concerns, and the CMA began an in-depth investigation in June.
In last month's decision, the CMA concluded that the UK’s wholesale market would remain competitive in the long term, noting that Booker’s share of the grocery wholesale market was not sufficient to justify long-term concerns of pricing and purchase power.
Previously, Booker said that it expects the deal to be completed in March.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
