United Co-operatives, which has a string of business interests in Bradford, has announced plans for a £100 million shopping spree after unveiling a tenth successive rise in annual profits.

Chief executive Peter Marks said United, which owns the Sunwin Group and is the largest co-operative society in the UK, was set to launch an "aggressive" search for takeover targets.

United, which was formed following a merger between United Norwest Co-operative and Yorkshire Co-operative in September 2002, saw turnover grow 27 per cent to £1.7 billion for its first year in its new form.

Adjusting for the impact of the merger, turnover was up 5.3 per cent. Profit before distributions grew by 87 per cent to £35.5 million, or up 38 per cent when the merger is taken into account.

Mr Marks said the results proved the merger had been a "spectacular success" for the society which will move to a new headquarters in Rochdale in June.

It reflected a strong performance across the group which includes convenience stores, motor dealers, funeral directors, travel agencies and department stores.

"These are excellent figures and stand comparison with the best of the competition," he said. "Even those who were sceptical about the benefits of the merger can see that these results demonstrate what a far-sighted move it was."

Mr Marks said takeover targets would now be sought in the travel, motor dealership, healthcare and funeral sectors.

"For many years United has been a major and highly successful operator of convenience stores," he said. "Over the past ten years the society has grown both organically and by acquisition.

"Long before the competition woke up to the importance of the convenience store sector we were acquiring chains across the north of England. Now we plan to step up the pace on the acquisition front.

"We are on the look-out for top-class businesses and have both the cash and the management team to make a success of them."

Among the highlights of the past 12 months was the opening of a new food store at Riddlesden, Keighley.