The º£½ÇÊÓƵ branch of Costco has credited a dip in petrol prices for fuelling a surge in profits to nearly £200m, as cheaper fuel lured more members.
The American retail titan noted that the fall in pump prices during its latest fiscal year played a key role in attracting new sign-ups and renewals, which in turn increased footfall in its warehouses, as reported by .
Operating 29 outlets across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, the membership-only wholesaler has declared a pre-tax profit of £188.9m for the year ending 1 September, 2024, a significant leap from £139.2m the previous year.
Documents lodged with Companies House reveal that Costco's revenue also climbed from £5bn to £5.3bn over the same span.
Moreover, the company's workforce expanded from 8,194 to 8,654 employees within the year.
A statement endorsed by the board read: "The company continues to face challenges from inflation in commodities, utility costs and labour."
It continued: "Despite these pressures, buying and operations teams have shown remarkable resilience and dedication in implementing strategies to mitigate the impact on both our members and the business."
The statement concluded with an optimistic note on efficiency: "To partially counteract these cost increases, we continued to improve operating efficiencies."
Costco: 'Lower petrol prices are a positive'
Regarding its future, Costco stated: "Our outlook remains optimistic as our business continues to grow its value reputation and membership base, leverage pricing through higher volumes, improve efficiency and enhance its online platform, offers and services.
"Although petrol business has experienced a slight decrease in sales due to price deflation, it continues to have a positive impact on our membership sign ups and renewals, which in turn has resulted in higher footfall in our warehouses.
"We believe our business is scaleable, resilient and agile.
"Drawing on a greater depth of product lines now afforded by our suppliers, economics of scale, the power of global buying and a well-funded infrastructure, we will continue to offer our members a wide range of quality products and competitive prices, whether they shop with us in our warehouses or through our e-commerce channel."
