This week Superdrug filed accounts at Companies House for the 52 weeks ended 27 December 2014.

The accounts show an operating profit for 2014 of £38.2m, up on the £25.8m operating profit of 2013, and the operating loss of £6.4m in 2012.

A key focus area for the business was health, which saw growth of 12.2% due to an increased product range and new services and advice both in store and online. Superdrug is now the fastest growing healthcare retailer in the UK.

Beauty grew by 4.6% with a strong focus on own brand products and ranges such as B., as well as exclusive launches of product ranges by bloggers such as Zoella and Tanya Burr.

Promotional activity remains core to the health and beauty retailer, and in addition to the price cuts and promotions customers see every week, 2014 saw successful Christmas activity around Black Friday both in store and online.

As part of parent company A. S. Watson‘s ‘Customer 360‘ global multichannel strategy, the year saw investment in a new Superdrug web platform, and into the logistics network, as well as rebranding the business‘s loyalty card to Health & Beautycard to take into consideration the growing importance of the health customer.

Over 200 stores were refreshed during the year bringing the number of refreshed stores to over 700 and two new store formats were launched: Beauty Studio by Superdrug in Cardiff which aims to offer a seamless combination of beauty and services and the Wellbeing store in Banbury the Wellbeing which provides customers with health and healthy living products, advice and service. These concepts, and elements from them, will continue to be rolled out during 2015.

Peter Macnab, Superdrug Managing Director said “The high street remains a challenging environment for all retailers, however by understanding our customers and offering the best value and customer service we believe the business is in a strong position to grow.

Last year we celebrated Superdrug‘s fiftieth birthday and we honoured that heritage by investing in the store environment, shopping experience and looking for exciting new product ranges. We recently announced our intention to open 100 new stores in the next three years and continue to plan for a successful future.

Superdrug is part of the A.S. Watson Group, the world‘s largest international health & beauty retailer in Asia & Europe, owned by CK Hutchison Holdings.