Boots has reported strong performance for the second quarter of the year, with UK sales up 15 per cent amidst a backdrop of trading headwinds from the Omicron variant.

The company’s online presence has also experienced significant boost, with sales during the period up 60 per cent compared to pre-covid levels.

Boots.com sales now make up over 15 per cent of Boots UK total retail sales versus nine per cent before the pandemic.

The health and beauty retailer says that an increasing proportion of online sales are now coming from the mobile app.

Boots UK pharmacy sales were up 3.6 per cent, while pharmacy services sales grew nearly 75 per cent year-on-year. The company said that this was driven by its new online healthcare services, flu vaccinations, and Covid-19 testing.

“Boots continues to bounce back strongly from the pandemic and delivered another solid performance this quarter, with sustained retail and pharmacy sales growth and market share gains across all categories,” said Sebastian James, managing director, Boots UK & Republic of Ireland. “Our strategic focus continues to be on transforming our beauty, healthcare and digital offerings and this quarter we made excellent progress – with strong take-up of our new and existing healthcare services while maintaining our leading position in the growing beauty category.”

Footfall was up 52 per cent compared to the same period last year when the UK was in lockdown.

Store basket size also increased by 15 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The company’s managing director said he felt Boots is uniquely positioned to grow further through its “broad and rejuvenated store portfolio” and “increasingly powerful online presence”.

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