TheWorks.co.uk adjusted profits rise amid 13% sales boost

Writer,

Archived article

Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

Online gift retailer TheWorks.co.uk posted a rise in adjusted annual profit thanks to higher sales.

Pre-tax profit for the year through 28 April fell 9.6% to £2.3m, owing to financing charges.

Adjusted profit rose 59% to £6.7m, as revenue climbed 13% to £217.5m.

The company declared a maiden final dividend of 2.4p per share, taking the full-year dividend to 3.6p.

'In our first year as a listed business, I am pleased that TheWorks.co.uk has achieved good growth, underpinned by our clear strategy and a consistent focus on our customers,' chief executive Kevin Keaney said.

'Opening new stores remains our biggest driver of growth and we have taken advantage of the favourable property market by opening a net 50 new stores in the year.'

'We delivered good like-for-like sales across all channels, as our continued focus on product newness and our nimble buying strategy enabled us to anticipate customer demand for current trends and seasonal ranges.'

'Our solid performance was also driven by our multi-channel proposition, which offers customers even more flexibility and convenience in how they shop.'

'We are particularly pleased with the performance of our click & collect service, which remains our fastest growing channel and resulted in half a million additional customer visits to our stores.'

'Underlying like-for-like sales in the first nine weeks of the current year have improved since the final quarter of last year to +1%.'

'This was achieved against a consumer backdrop that remains subdued and we are now assuming that this will continue for the foreseeable future.'

At 9:46am: (LON:WRKS) Theworks.co.uk Plc Ord 1p share price was +5.25p at 68p