Boots Opticians bounced back in the second half of Boots plc's financial year with an impressive 6.7 per cent improvement in sales in the final three months.
The multiple said the performance was due to a restructuring programme which has included integrating the business with Boots The Chemists management.
However, the opticians, which has introduced franchising and more aggressive pricing, still has a long way to go before getting into profit, with sales projected to be 4 per cent lower for the full year 2005-06, and a full year loss expected to be between £2m-£4m.
Nevertheless, this is lower than the 9m reported in some of the press regarding the multiple's results for 2005-06.
Speaking about the group's performance, Richard Baker, chief executive officer, said: 'In what has been a tough trading environment we have performed solidly in our fourth quarter.
We believe that the consumer environment is set to remain challenging and that there will be continuing inflationary pressure on retail costs.
'This has been a year of enormous change, and it is pleasing that the core business has remained focused and made good progress.'
Last month the company announced it was to more than double the total number of franchised Boots Opticians - from eight to 20 - and has been actively looking for 'brand partners' to run practices in 12 locations - Crawley, Dartford, Gateshead Metro Centre, Halifax, Kingswood, Liverpool Clayton Square, Luton, Melton Mowbray, Newcastle under Lyme, South Shields, Stevenage and Tonbridge.
Boots Opticians bounced back in the second half of Boots plc's financial year with an impressive 6.7 per cent improvement in sales in the final three months.