Boots in rude health after shake-up

HEALTH and beauty chain Boots showed how a shake-up of the business was paying off as it forecast full-year figures would meet expectations.

The Nottingham-based group has overhauled itself in recent months, including cutting back product ranges and shutting unsuccessful ventures. It has also developed its healthcare services arm Wellbeing and today showed how the changes were boosting business.

Updating shareholders ahead of its final results, Boots said sales growth had been stronger in the second half of the year than the first, both across the chain and for core health & beauty products.

Boots Healthcare International (BHI), which was rocked by last year's removal of the resale price maintenance, reversed a decline in sales and like-for-like sales for the year to March 31 were now expected to come in flat.

Boots, which owns Strepsils, Clearasil and Nurofen, said last month it wanted BHI to generate profits in excess of £100m within four years.

Also today, Boots said losses at its overseas retail arm had been 'significantly reduced' while the group as a whole was on course to deliver annualised savings of £250m by the year end.

The chain added: 'Management remains confident that it will deliver results which are in line with expectations.'

Boots is scheduled to post full-year figures at the end of May and analysts are currently pencilling in pre-tax profits of £615m.