Booker has offset an annual like-for-like sales decline of 2.6% through “better buying,” while hinting at the introduction of home and clothing products into its retail stores.
In Tesco’s recent H1 2026/27 interim results, the drop across the Booker group to £4.6bn was blamed on falling tobacco sales. Like-for-like retail sales fell by 0.6% to £1.7bn during the period, while Booker’s worst-affected catering division saw sales drop by 3.2% to £1.4bn.
Despite the fall, profit across Booker remained relatively flat at £163m. The results revealed the firm had a net addition of 275 stores during the first half of the year. Excluding tobacco, core retail sales grew by 1.4%.
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The firm added a strategy of “better buying” had helped offset any further sales decline. Asked by Better Wholesaling what this meant for independent retailers during a media call, Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy responded: “We’ve worked really hard this summer to drive our retail sales, and we’ve invested very heavily behind value and particularly promotional campaigns to be very competitive in the retail market. Booker Retail performance kind of reflects that.”
The supermarket’s chief financial officer Imran Nawaz added: “There are also savings initiatives that we have internally, where we buy stuff at a hopefully cheaper price, so that we can pass on those savings to our customers.”
Nawaz explained further investment in improving head office operations had also helped Booker pass on savings to retailers.
Potential Majestic Wines acquisition
Sky News recently reported that Tesco was one of several candidates to buy alcohol retailer Majestic Wines. Nawaz and Murphy decline to comment further on the report but stressed it was looking expanding beyond food.
Murphy said: “We believe that there’s an opportunity to extend our usefulness to our customer base through other missions and we’ve kind of led that charge through our home and clothing business.
“We are building that out progressively and we also see a role for Booker in that because it has a huge reach into independent retail and into our food service partners.
“Apart from that, I wouldn’t be inclined to speculate. On any kind of rumours that might be in the market, all I can tell you is that we are committed to food. Food is where we want to have at the very heart of our business.”
The results added 7,500 digital screens displaying supplier promotions and deals were also in place across the group, including Booker and One Stop stores. Booker worked with Pixel Inspiration and Dunnhumby on the project, installing more than 5000 screens across 100 Booker locations nationwide.
