Costco profits surge as reduced petrol prices help drive sales
Costco UK saw its profits rocket 35% last year as lower petrol prices helped to drive an increase in membership and shoppers in stores.
Costco UK saw its profits rocket 35% last year as lower petrol prices helped to drive an increase in membership and shoppers in stores.
The wholesale retailer reported a pre-tax profit of £188.9m for the year to 1 September, rising from £139.2m the year before. Sales rose 5% from £5bn to £5.3bn.
Costco said that its reduction in petrol prices over the period helped boost the number of shoppers signing up and renewing their membership with the business, increasing the amount of customers at its stores.
In a statement, the business said that it continued to “face challenges from inflation in commodities, utility costs and labour”.
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“Despite these pressures, buying and operations teams have shown remarkable resilience and dedication in implementing strategies to mitigate the impact on both our members and the business.
“To partially counteract these cost increases, we continued to improve operating efficiencies.”
Looking ahead, the retailer claimed its outlook remained “optimistic” as it continued to increase its “value reputation and membership base, leverage pricing through higher volumes, improve efficiency and enhance its online platform, offers and services”.
“Although petrol business has experienced a slight decrease in sales due to price deflation, it continues to have a positive impact on our membership sign ups and renewals, which in turn has resulted in higher footfall in our warehouses,” it added.
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