Superdrug profits get makeover as chain plans further expansion

The chain, which is a part of the AS Watson Group owned by CK Hutchinson, made an operating profit of £38.2m compared with £25.8m in 2013 and a loss of £6.4m in 2012.

City A.M reports that Its health range saw sales growth of 12.2 per cent, while its beauty range sales grew 4.6 per cent, with a strong focus on own brand products.

“The high street remains a challenging environment for all retailers, however by understanding our customers and offering the best value and customer service we believe the business is in a strong position to grow,” said Superdrug managing director Peter Macnab.

“We recently announced our intention to open 100 new stores in the next three years and continue to plan for a successful future,” he added.

Over 200 stores were refreshed during the year bringing the number of refreshed stores to over 700 and two new store formats were launched: Beauty Studio by Superdrug in Cardiff which aims to offer a seamless combination of beauty and services and the Wellbeing store in Banbury the Wellbeing which provides customers with health and healthy living products, advice and service. These concepts, and elements from them, will continue to be rolled out during 2015.
Superdrug operates over 800 stores in the UK.