// Fat Face maintains full price strategy into Christmas
// The retailer’s profits returned to pre-pandemic levels over the last year on the back of record sales
Fat Face has reported an increase in profits thanks to record sales last year.
Record sales in the year to 28 May helped profitability return to pre-pandemic levels. Sales reached £244.9 million over the year, while pre-tax profit hit £10.9 million.
However, CEO Will Crumbie warned that the market remains “incredibly tough” and vowed not to offer any discounts until Christmas Eve.
He told Retail Week: “Everything’s there to say it’s going to be a good Christmas. But we are also incredibly aware that the market is incredibly tough with lots of high discounting in the year, so we’ll always stay full price up until Christmas Eve.”
Fat Face said it traded strongly over Black Friday and that key festive product categories such as knitwear, nightwear and gifting were proving popular.
However, Crumbie warned that the early months of 2023 will be more difficult for retailers.
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In its last financial year, Fat Face’s online sales rose 25% to £95.8 million while store sales jumped to £147.2 million helped by a rise in staycations.
The business also signed partnerships with Next and Marks & Spencer during the year, which helped to boost sales.
For the four months to October 1, total sales were up 9% to £92 million across all channels.
Fat Face’s full-price sales grew during the period led by a demand in dresses, shorts and skirts categories, resulting in an improvement to gross margin to 57%, up by 2%.
During the four months, digital sales jumped 13% while in-store revenues increased 9%.
