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First-half profit climbs at Booker

First-half profit climbs at Booker
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Cash-and-carry retailer Booker has revealed an increase in profit for the first half of fiscal 2009.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of £297 million for the 24 weeks to September 11th.

This represented a 12.1 per cent jump on the £26.5 million it made during the opening six months of 2008, however it was not enough to cause a dip in the firm's share price, which dropped 2p to 43.62p in afternoon stock market trading.

Charlie Wilson, chief executive of the company, said it has "become a major force in the delivered wholesale market".

The business is "helping more independent caterers and retailers compete in a difficult economic environment", he added.

It converted ten of its branches into the Extra format during the six-month period and also opened a store in Mumbai, helping total sales to increase 7.7 per cent to £1.6 billion and like-for-like sales of non-tobacco products to rise 9.4 pet cent.ADNFCR-1681-ID-19406728-ADNFCR