Coop users warned to expect reduced dividend payment or none at all

The society has paid 4% in dividend to shareholders every year since 1980, when it dropped from 5%.

CEO Mark Cox has written a letter explaining the society’s approach as it continues to face difficult trading conditions.

He said that the society’s annual financial report ‘will reflect a notable reduction in our net surplus’.

‘The board will put forward a proposal for the 2023 dividend at our Annual Members Meeting and it will be for our members to vote whether they approve it,’ he said.

He said that if the proposition was for a reduction in dividend and members rejected it, there will be none paid.

But if the board proposes paying no dividend, this will be the case whether or not members approve the proposal.

Since Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine, the food retail sector has experienced continuous pressure and there had been an ongoing strain on global supply chains, raw ingredient prices, energy costs and rising inflation.

However, the CI Coop had absorbed much of the impact of ‘relentless cost inflation’, Mr Cox said, and resisted increasing prices on many everyday items ‘to protect its members during a period where many are struggling to manage household budgets’.

‘We have to make a call on the level of dividend this year depending on the financial results. The board will consider that at the end of February.’

Members will be made aware of the board’s decision about 28 days before the meeting.

Mr Cox said the CI Coop was looking to make efficiencies and savings wherever it could while it continued to invest in store refurbishments and new technology, and support local producers and community organisations.

The society has about 128,000 members across the Channel Islands and Mr Cox said that usually about 200 attend each of the annual meetings in Guernsey and Jersey.

• Guernsey’s members meeting takes place at the St Pierre Park Hotel on 21 May with Jersey’s the following day.