The Co-operative Group has reported a full-year profit, helped by recent cost-cutting and the sale of its petrol forecourt business.

The retail-to-funerals business said it made a pre-tax profit of £247m in 2022 – an improvement on the £190m profit seen in the previous year.

The Co-op said it would have posted a loss were it not for the £319m of profit it made from the sale of its 132 petrol forecourts to rival Asda.

The business’s food, legal and funeral divisions saw an increase in revenue, while its insurance division reported a fall in income from £34m in 2021 to £24m last year.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, chief executive of the Co-op, said: “It’s clear that our early action to significantly reduce our debt, improve our cash position and tighten cost controls has made a significant difference to the financial strength of our Co-op and has enabled us to look forward with confidence, despite continuing market uncertainty.

“We now have an even better foundation upon which to grow our businesses.

“We’re also looking to grow our membership, putting membership at the heart of our Co-op, with ambitious plans to both attract new members and deepen relationships with our existing members.

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“We will continue to bring our vision to life to make a genuine difference for our colleagues, members and communities through these challenging times.”

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In its statement on the company’s outlook, the board said it will continue to grow the business both physically and online, and “ambitiously” grow membership while “maintaining financial discipline and deliver(ing) on our vision of co-operating for a fairer world”.

“We expect the volatile external environment and turbulent economic headwinds, including inflationary pressures to continue.

“However, the early action taken last year to strengthen the Co-op’s financial position, leaves our Co-op well placed to face into, while not being immune from, such headwinds.”

In July, the supermarket chain announced it was axing 400 jobs at its head office in Manchester.

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