Boots set for trading progress

The new owners of Boots, Stefano Pessina and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, today said the group was trading "well ahead" of expectations after being taken private for £11.1 billion in July.

The new owners of Boots, Stefano Pessina and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, today said the group was trading "well ahead" of expectations after being taken private for £11.1bn (€15.5bn) in July.

Before the deal - the first ever private equity takeover of a FTSE 100 firm - Alliance Boots was predicted to make a trading profit of £700m (€979.6m) in the year to the end of March 2008.