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| Co-operative Group hails year of further progress | Co-operative Group hails year of further progress |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Co-operative Group says it has made progress this year, with sales at both its food and funeral home businesses growing. | |
| Profit was £23m for the year, down from £124m last year, when the figure was boosted by a one-off gain of £121m from selling parts of its business. | |
| Sales in its 2,800 food stores grew 1.6%, to give a £250m profit. | Sales in its 2,800 food stores grew 1.6%, to give a £250m profit. |
| The business has the largest chain of funeral homes in the country. Profits there were £78m as sales rose by 9.9%. | The business has the largest chain of funeral homes in the country. Profits there were £78m as sales rose by 9.9%. |
| Group underlying profit before tax was £81m, up from £73m last year. | |
| 'Large' reduction | |
| Chief executive Richard Pennycook is taking a pay cut of 60%. He says the business is now back in calmer waters and the reduction reflects the revised demands of the current job. | Chief executive Richard Pennycook is taking a pay cut of 60%. He says the business is now back in calmer waters and the reduction reflects the revised demands of the current job. |
| The Co-op statement says: "At his request, and with the full support of the board, the chief executive has agreed a very large reduction in his own remuneration package." | |
| His base salary will fall from £1,250,000 to £750,000. | |
| The business is expanding in both food stores and funeral homes. | |
| It said its convenience stores were outperforming the UK grocery market, because people's shopping habits were changing as they made more frequent trips to buy food. | |
| Earlier this week, grocery research firm Kantar reported that the Co-op's sales had risen at their fastest rate since it bought rival Somerfield in 2011, climbing by 3.9%. | |
| It plans to open another 200 funeral homes in the next three years, which will increase the size of its estate to more than 1,100 homes. |