The society reported a £5.7m trading profit for the year ending 29 January 2022, compared to £6.4m for the year before.

Scotmid reported that its turnover had dropped by £6m to £403m compared to the 53 weeks reporting period in 2020.

Despite the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on its business beginning to “unwind”, the Scotmid also reported it had invested £12.8m through capital investments in the business which was up by 35% from last year.

Scotmid also invested £12.8m through capital investments in the business, marking a 35% increase from last year, The Insider reports.

At the same time, Scotmid’s property business saw an “improvement” in the Edinburgh residential market with the value of its portfolio increasing by £2.9m and the year-end valuation of the portfolio for the first time exceeded £100m for the first time.

Scotmid also reported that its surplus after tax for the financial year was £4.2m, which was up by £2.9m on last year. Scotmid said that the main reasons for the higher surplus were a £2.4m increase in the property revaluation gain and a £800,000 decrease in “finance charges”.

John Brodie, chief executive at Scotmid Co-operative, said: “This has been the second financial year impacted by the Covid pandemic and the varying effects it has had on our businesses. As we have gradually emerged from the crisis and moved to the ‘living with Covid’ stage, the impact on the Society’s businesses has reversed.

“Last year, I highlighted the planning uncertainty surrounding the timing of the end of the crisis. Once again, the difficulties of forecasting in the current environment became clear when the pandemic was prolonged due to the emergence of the Omicron variant. As well as record levels of sickness due to Omicron, the Society has also had to navigate through some major challenges in the grocery supply chain. I am very proud of our colleagues who through hard work and dedication have continued to deliver for our communities despite the significant challenges faced.

“Looking forward, there is still planning uncertainty concerning the exit from the pandemic but it is clear that the Society faces significant inflationary cost challenges in 2022.”