Iceland refit boosts Big Food

SALES remain on the slide at Big Food group, although the rate of decline is slowing and refitted stores are showing double-digit gains.

The group, which owns the Booker cash and carry and Iceland frozen foods chains, said first-quarter sales slipped by 0.2% at Iceland, although the decline stretches to 1.6% when adjusted for the late Easter.

However, chief executive Bill Grimsey said this was an improvement on the 2.1% drop in the comparable period last year. At Booker, non-tobacco sales grew by 1.6%, or 1.2% adjusting for Easter. For the group as a whole, the like-for-like decline over the 13 weeks to 27 June was 0.5%.

Grimsey described the performance as satisfactory and said the pace of recovery should strengthen as the year goes on.

Refitted Iceland stores are producing underlying sales gains of just over 13% and shops are being revamped at the rate of three a week. In the quarter 23 stores were refurbished, bringing the total to 62.

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