Sunderland-based furniture and floorings retailer ScS cited “increasing resilience and strong cash flow dynamics” in its full year results this morning, as the company revealed a 22 per cent rise in online sales.
Despite a tumultuous time for the high street at large, ScS said gross sales had improved £2.8 million to £352.3 million in the 52 weeks to July 28, with revenue up £4.3 million to £337.3 million.
EBITDA increased 8.1 per cent to £18.8 million with operating profit up 10.5 per cent to £13.2 million.
Meanwhile like-for-like orders increased 0.2 per cent.
Online sales were a highlight for the business, rising 22.6 per cent for the year to £13.8 million, and ScS added the group trading since the start of its new financial year was in line with board expectations.
“2018 has been another strong year,” chief executive David Knight said.
“Despite a prolonged period of economic uncertainty and challenging trading conditions, we have continued to grow the business.
“The downturn in sales in our House of Fraser concessions has been more than offset by growth in our core ScS business. This has been aided by record results from our online channel, which has seen a 22.6% increase in gross sales..”
“Since the start of the current financial year, the overall trading performance of the Group has been in line with our expectations. Due to the ongoing changes at House of Fraser, trading within our concessions, which represented 7.1% of FY18 gross sales, remains challenging and we are working with the new owners to address this as a priority.
“We will continue to focus on our value offering and we believe the group’s increasing resilience and strong cash flow dynamics will enable us to manage the continued economic uncertainty and take advantage of opportunities as they arise, allowing us to continue to deliver value for our shareholders,” Knight added.
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