Britain's Co-op says retail crime cost it $105 million in 2024

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Co-op Group said on Thursday that losses from shoplifting in its food retail business rose by over 14% to 80 million pounds ($105 million) in 2024, or more than half of its adjusted operating profit.

The group, which trades from over 2,300 food stores across the UK, has been one of the worst hit retailers by a surge in thefts in recent years.

As in the United States and elsewhere, retail crime is a huge and growing problem in Britain, highlighting the financial straits of some consumers and also stretched policing resources.

Industry body the British Retail Consortium's annual crime survey, published in January, found more than 20 million incidents of theft were committed in the year to August 31, which equates to 55,000 a day, costing retailers 2.2 billion pounds. There were 16 million incidents in the previous year.

Despite the increased losses from crime, the 181-year-old Co-op, which also has funeral care, legal and insurance businesses, reported a 35% increase in annual operating profit, reflecting an improved performance from its main food business.

But it highlighted pressure this year from "broader geopolitical issues", as well as higher employer National Insurance contributions and a new packaging levy.

Owned by its 6.2 million members, the group said underlying operating profit, its preferred profit measure, was 131 million pounds in the year ended January 4, on flat revenue of 11.3 billion pounds.

"While broader economic challenges remain, our businesses are delivering strongly against the market," CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said.

The Co-op's food stores, which have a 5.2% share of Britain's grocery market, reported a 1.9% rise in revenue to 7.4 billion pounds.

Last month, the Co-op said it would price match discounter Aldi on more than 100 key items for its members, a move analysts saw as a response to a major campaign of price cuts by Asda.

($1 = 0.7625 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey. Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark Potter)