// The Works sales edged up 2.1% over its first half to 30 October
// Sales had been impacted in May in the aftermath of a cyber attack
The Works’ trading was “resilient” against what it termed “an increasingly challenging consumer environment” as first-half sales edged up 2.1%.
The robust performance came despite a cyber security incident that occured earlier this year that impacted sales in May both online and in-store. However, The Works said from June its like-for-likes have been positive.
Like-for-likes inched up 0.6%, although store like-for-likes rose 3.5% in the half to 30 October.
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Online sales plunged 16.9%, which The Works said was due to the normalisation of shopping trends post-Covid, however they were still 50% above pre-pandemic levels.
The retailer said it had particularly strong growth in the summer, followed by a record ‘Back to School’ season.
Christmas shopping has been brought forward this year, according to the retailer, which has seen online continue track behind stores, however, the rate of decline had slowed as ecommerce trading has stabilised.
The retailer is confident that there is still “signifcant opportunity for growth” online in the medium term.
Despite the positive performance, The Works remains cautious with regards to how high inflation and interest rates will impact consumer spending over Christmas and the rest of the year.
However, it said its value proposition made it “more relevant than ever” and flagged that it was well-placed operationally for Christmas.
The Works CEO Gavin Peck said: “Although it is very difficult to predict what Christmas will look like this year, we believe that the great products and fantastic value we offer will be more important than ever, with families still looking to celebrate Christmas but in a more affordable way.
“The Works has proven itself to be a resilient business and we remain confident in our ability to make progress on our strategy and deliver growth in the medium term, supported by a robust balance sheet.”
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