Leeds profits top £1m mark

LEEDS Co-op has announced record results for the year ending January 10th.

Net profits after tax exceeded &#163 1 million for the year, up 56 per cent on the previous year. Trading profits were also strong – up 43 per cent.

Total turnover reached &#163 75.1 million, with particularly strong performances from the society &#039s food shops and travel agencies. The co-op&#039s net assets at &#163 22.4 million rose by 12 per cent during the year and members&#039 share capital at &#163 2.6 million was up 8.9 per cent. Nearly 1,000 new members joined the society.

Leeds Co-op Chief Executive Alan Gill told the News: "This is our best result for some 30 years and although we are well aware that we still have a long way to go to achieve our overall financial objectives, this result continues the improvements we have made in the last six years.

"We are particularly pleased that this increase in profits goes alongside an increase in membership. Attendances at members&#039 meetings also increased and the proportion of members voting in last year&#039s postal ballot for the election of directors went up from 24 to 27 per cent."

The society&#039s 18 food stores had a total turnover of &#163 35 million, up by 4.8 per cent. Negotiatiions on three new sites for convenience stores are currently under way and the society hope they will come on-stream later this year.

The society&#039s travel division achieved a turnover of &#163 33.4 million despite the difficulties caused by the Iraq conflict and the SARS virus, while property rental income increased by 18.8 per cent to &#163 820,000.

In the funeral division, total turnover at &#163 3.8 million was 1.4 per cent up over the previous year despite the falling death rate, while the turnover from five opticians&#039 branches reached &#163 926,000 – an increase of 4.4 per cent.

During the year, society employees were again involved in helping the community across a wide range of activities and many did this in their own time as well as using paid time off under the Community Day Scheme.

Employees also raised a staggering &#163 28,945 for the NSPCC through a variety of activities including &#163 2,000 on Yorkshire Day alone.