Ahead of its impending merger with Tesco, food wholesaler Booker published fourth quarter sales figures which saw a 0.7% increase in like-for-like sales, pushing total sales up by 0.5% for the 12 weeks up to March 24th. The group’s Londis and Budgens brands had positive sales figures in the quarter however, tobacco sales slumped by 7.5%, due in part to the tobacco display ban and new plain packaging restrictions. The proposed merger of the Brooker company with Tesco is still uncertain at the moment, as two of the supermarkets shareholders expressed concerns over the deal.