• Boots like-for-likes up 1.8% in three months to November 30 
  • Retail sales rise 0.8%
  • Online sales up 11.2%

Boots has revealed a slight lift in sales in its first quarter driven by an 11.2% jump in online sales.

The retailer, owned by US-based Walgreens Boots Alliance, said like-for-likes in the three months to November 30 rose 1.8%.

Sales in its retail division edged up 0.8%, while pharmacy sales increased 3.5%.

Boots last year restructured which led to the retailer cutting 700 back office roles, with around half going at its Nottingham head office.

The move was partly to invest in technology to boost its omnichannel offer to compete in the increasingly competitive health and beauty online space. 

The restructuring is part of Walgreens’ cost-restructing programme, announced last April.

On Christmas trading, a Boots spokesperson said the performance had been “encouraging”, but declined to give further detail.

Walgreeens Boots Alliance, the result of a merger between Walgreens and Boots Alliance completed last year, reported group net profits rose 30.6% to $1.1bn in the quarter.  

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