Shares in McColl’s tumbled more than 6% after the convenience store operator reported a drop in sales after being knocked by the collapse of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey.
Total like-for-like sales for the 11 weeks to February 11 slipped 2.2%, having been “held back” by sales in stores that were formerly supplied by the wholesaler and together recorded a 3.6% drop in revenues.
“Having experienced some availability issues towards the end of full year 2017 in our c.700 newsagents and smaller convenience stores supplied by Palmer & Harvey, their entry into administration on 28 November 2017 has led to further disruption during the early part of full-year 2018,” the firm said.
McColl’s said it had put contingency plans in place which included entering into a new short-term supply contract with Nisa in December, and starting its supply partnership with Morrisons earlier than planned in order to stock those same stores with tobacco.
McColl’s share price tumbled more than 6.4% or 16p to 233p in morning trading.
The convenience store operator also released full-year results on Monday, which showed the company benefiting from the acquisition of 298 stores from the Co-op last year. It helped total revenues jump 19.1% to £1.1billion for the full year to November 26 compared with £950million a year earlier, though total like-for-like sales were up just 0.1%.
Annual pre-tax profits rose to £18.4million from £17.7million in 2016.
