Festive cheer for Boots

Health and beauty retailer Boots smashed City forecasts today by reporting its strongest pre-Christmas sales growth for more than 10 years.

The group, in the middle of a strategy review, said customers snapped up cosmetics, fragrances, Christmas gifts and electrical beauty accessories.

Like-for-like sales across the core Boots The Chemist chain were 7.5% up on a year ago in the three months to December 31 – the third quarter of Boots’ financial year.