Boots: Profit surges at British icon as owner mulls £7bn London float

Historic pharmacy chain Boots has reported a surge in its pre-tax profit for its latest financial year amid reports its owner is considering a £7bn float in London.

The Nottingham-headquartered business also saw an increase in its revenue in the 12 months to the end of August 2023, according to a set of newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

The business files its accounts across three firms: Boots UK, The Boots Company plc and Boots Management Services.

According to newly-filed accounts, Boots UK reported a revenue of £7bn, up from £6.5bn while its pre-tax profits jumped from £4m to £60m.

Separate accounts filed under The Boots Company plc show a revenue of £179m, up from £166m, and pre-tax profits of £122m, up from £76m.

According to the Companies House listing for Boots Management Services its latest accounts have been filed but are not shown.

In its prior financial year, Boots Management Services reported a revenue of £1.1bn and pre-tax profits of £56.9m.

The full picture of how the whole group performed during the year to the end of August 2023 will be revealed when the accounts for Boots Management Services are published.

But even without that set of accounts, Boots revenue and pre-tax profit have already surpassed its total in the prior financial year.

Boss sees pay fall by £1m

The new accounts also show that the boss of Boots saw his pay fall by more than £1m to £2.7m in the year.

The fall came after Seb James took home a pay packet worth £3.8m in the prior financial year, more than double the total in the year to the end of August 2021.

The decline was due to the amount James received through the company’s long-term incentive scheme being halved from £1.8m to £900,000 and his aggregate remuneration dropping by £200,000 to £1.7m. His pension payments of £100,000 remained the same.

James was group chief executive of Dixons Carphone for before taking on his current role at Boots in 2018.

He is a friend of former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary David Cameron and the pair were in the Bullingdon Club at Oxford together.

Earlier this month, James was among a number of major UK business leaders to endorse Labour.

During the year Boots UK operated 2,177 stores, down from 2,232.

Wallgreens Boots Alliance

The US giant, which has fully owned the company since 2014, reported sales of $139.1bn for the same financial year, up 4.8 per cent.

However, its operating losses grew from $1.4bn to $6.9bn over the same period.

For the first six months of its current financial year, Wallgreens Boots Alliance posted sales of $73.8bn, up 8.1 per cent and operating losses of $13.2m, up from $6bn.

How has Boots fared in recent months?

For the first quarter of its current financial year, the three months to November 30, 2023, Boots said its retail sales had risen by 9.8 per cent year on year.

At the time it also said Black Friday was its biggest ever day of online and app sales.

For its second quarter, the three months to February 29, 2024, Boots said its retail sales increased by 5.9 per cent.

The company said that its Christmas trading was “particularly strong” with sales u throughout December 2023.

What does the future hold?

Reports have been swirling for some months about whether the owner of Boots will list the pharmacy giant in the UK.

Stories first hit the British press in December 2023 after the company sold its pension scheme to Legal & General for £4.8bn.

At the time, it was reported the move would pave the way for a £7bn listing of the history chain.

In January 2024, its owner said “everything was on the table” regarding the company’s future.

Earlier this month, reports started to circle again that Wallgreens Boots Alliance had reignited its plans to offload the business and placed a £7bn price tag on the brand.