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Retail & Consumer

North East wholesaler Kitwave raises expectations after strong first half

But the Niorth Shields firm sounded a note of caution about the impact of cost of living and cost of doing business pressures

Kitwave CFO David Brind and CEO Paul Young(Image: handout from Kitwave)

North East wholesale group Kitwave said all of its divisions are now trading at pre-pandemic levels or higher and anticipates full year results to be ahead of expectations.

The North Shields-based business, which operates depots across the country, said it had enjoyed a strong first half in the six months to the end of April.

But it sounded a note of caution about the potential for cost of living pressures to impact on consumers' spending power, and therefore the business' revenues.

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Kitwave said it would face higher operating costs but that it was confident these will be recovered.

Elsewhere it said the acquisition of Devon-based M.J. Baker Foodservice Limited in February had gone to plan and that the business was performing in line with its expectations.

Paul Young, chief executive officer of Kitwave, said: "I am pleased to report on the progress made by the Group in the six months ending April 30, 2022. Following an encouraging first half performance, and with the second half of the year typically driving increased trading, we expect full year results to be slightly ahead of market expectations.

"During the period, we were delighted to announce Kitwave's first acquisition since its admission to AIM in May 2021. The acquisition of M.J. Baker enables a significant expansion of the Group's activities into south-west England and complements the Group's existing Foodservice division. The integration of the business into the Group is going as hoped and the business is operating in line with internal expectations.