Exceptional charges hit profits at Dobbies

Pre-tax profits plummeted by 80 per cent at Tesco-owned Dobbies Garden Centres in the period to the end of February 2009, following hefty exceptional charges.

Dobbies – which Tesco acquired in 2008 after a bitter battle with former shareholder Sir Tom Hunter – said yesterday that its pre-tax profits had fallen to £658,000 for the 16 months to 29 February 2009, from £3.2 m for the 12 months to 31 October 2007. Before exceptional items, mainly related to an existing interest rate swap, Dobbies’ pre-tax profits rose slightly to £5.3m on turnover 47 per cent higher at £122.6m. Its sales were boosted by a new store in Southport and the acquisition of Sandyholm Garden Centre, Lanarkshire.