Record beauty sales provide boost for Boots as shoppers splash out
Record sales in beauty products boost Boots as shoppers buy more expensive products
Boots touted a record-breaking start to the year for its beauty business as shoppers turned to more expensive products.
The UK’s leading chemist saw the popularity of his own label No7 and the chic La Roche-Posay skyrocket.
In addition to a record January, the premium segment of its beauty range had its biggest sales week ever in December amid a pre-Christmas storm.
Boots said its beauty branch was a “blast” in the three months to Feb. 28. Total turnover at the High Street giant, with 2,200 stores in the UK, was 16 percent higher than in the same quarter last year.
Sales boost: Boots, the UK’s leading chemist, saw the popularity of his own label No7 and the chic La Roche-Posay soar
Boots were also supported by the ongoing recovery in High Street, with the number of shoppers in stores in the quarter up 16 percent from a year ago.
And the retailer performed strongly online, with a digital turnover increase of 17 percent compared to last year.
The strong performance at Boots came as US owner Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) – whose executive chairman is renowned Italian dealmaker Stefano Pessina – returned to the black for the quarter.
The group’s profit was £160 million compared to a loss of £850 million a year ago. But for the first half of the financial year, losses totaled around £5 billion.
The latest update comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed that investors and board members are pressuring Pessina to accelerate plans to refocus the group’s focus on the US.
They want Walgreens to separate its international businesses as quickly as possible, said industry experts, who view Boots and other operations in Europe as a “distraction.”
This could pave the way for Boots to return to the London Stock Exchange.