Boots sales lifted by anti-aging cream
on 03/11/2009 12:38:26
Demand for anti-ageing creams today helped Alliance Boots report a surge in sales growth at its health and beauty arm.
Boots, which appointed former HBOS boss Andy Hornby as chief executive in July, posted a 3.4% hike in UK health & beauty like-for-like sales for the six months to September 30, up from 1.3% in the previous financial year.
The Nottingham-based firm said it was benefiting from "strong consumer demand" for its latest No7 Protect & Perfect anti-ageing beauty range, which launched amid a wave of publicity in April.
The firm claimed that the Protect & Perfect face cream was clinically proven to reduce wrinkles - two years after a consumer dash was seen for the first product in the range after it too was shown to work under the microscope.
Today's results are the first for Mr Hornby in his new role - an appointment that came less than a year after his tenure at HBOS ended following the bank's rescue takeover by Lloyds TSB.
His recruitment attracted interest, given the part he played in leading the bank to rely so heavily on wholesale banking markets, which collapsed in the wake of the Lehman Brothers bank bankruptcy.
But it has also raised eyebrows, coming soon after chairman Stefano Pessina floated the idea of a potential move into personal banking.
Boots today played down suggestions that it was set to compete with the likes of Tesco and Virgin Money for banking assets up for grabs under the latest sector shake-up.
It said: "At Boots UK, we are always looking at new ways to be innovative.
"New services we could offer through our store network are constantly under consideration - financial services is something we review from time to time but is not on our immediate 'to do' list."
The firm's half-year update showed that revenues across the business rose 11.6%, with health and beauty seeing a 6.3% increase and the wholesaling pharmaceutical division reporting a 3.1% like-for-like improvement at constant currencies.
Market conditions remain "challenging" for its wholesale pharmaceutical arm, but it said it was 70% through a restructuring that will see 1,500 jobs being axed globally.
Across its retail pharmaceutical arm, Boots banked a 4.3% increase in dispensing sales volumes on a comparable basis.
It is setting up doctors surgeries within Boots stores, adding four more UK outlets in the six-month period to take the total to 10, with sites now including Poole, Brighton, Peterborough and Yeovil.
Boots also completed the merger of its Boots opticians chain with high street rival Dollond & Aitchison in May.