Listed UK retailers’ profits have slumped more than a third in the past 11 years despite a 50% rise in sales, according to new analysis that lays bare the collapse in margins as new entrants upturn the sector.
Sales from food and general retailers rose from £125bn in 2007 to just over £190bn last year, data from The Share Centre show.
But pre-tax profits, including exceptional items such as asset impairments, fell from £6.5bn to a little more than £4bn.
