Co-op has reported an underlying loss of £45m for the six months ending July 4, 2026, up from £32m in the same period of 2025. Total group revenue rose to £5.6bn, compared with £5.5bn in H1 2025.
Food Retail and Wholesale Performance
Food Retail revenue increased from £3.6bn to £3.7bn, while wholesale and franchise revenue remained flat at £683m. Co-op said its wholesale operation delivered on its plans as part of a long-term reset, with updated Nisa branding rolled out to 25 stores and 100 planned for the year.
The retailer opened 164 new stores and secured new business agreements worth an additional £142m of total contract value year-to-date, with a pipeline of £280m to year-end. Despite the flat revenue, the group reported continued strong growth of 26% in its franchising business, with 11 openings.
Outlook for Second Half
Interim chief executive Kate Allum said: “2026 is looking like a year of two halves for our Co-op. The first half was characterised by difficult markets and low consumer confidence, especially for Food Retail.”
“Against those conditions, we made decisions to drive trade – investing in promotions and investing in our stores – while also mitigating rising costs. These things have had a short-term impact on profitability.”
“Speaking now in the second half, we’re seeing bigger baskets and more transactions. Conditions remain challenging, but we see reasons for confidence across our portfolio, having delivered strong growth in areas such as online convenience shopping and funerals.”
“We expect to see a stronger performance in the second half than the first, with sales growth and improvements in profitability.”
