Sofa retailer ScS profits plunged 63% over the year as it flagged that trading had “toughened” in recent months.
The chain, which agreed to a near-£100m take-private deal by Italian furniture firm Poltronesofà yesterday, posted a pre-tax profit of £6m for year to 29 July, down from £16.4m reported last year.
New acquisition Snug, which it bought out of administration in January, contributed £2.8m of pre-tax loss.
Sales also dipped slightly across the year as a result of the “challenging economic climate” with consumers pulling back on discretionary spending.
Despite the profits plunge, chief executive Steve Carson said the retailer had a “resilient” year as he claimed it had grown its market share.
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ScS revealed that “trading has toughened over the first quarter” for the new financial year. Its order intake rose 2.7% in August before falling to 0.3% in September and then declining 4.4% in October.
The retailer said it had pushed ahead with modernising its product offering during the year and invested in its store estate and refreshed its brand.
It opened two new ScS stores and brought Snug inside nine of its branches, with seven more to follow in its current year.
Snug also opened a new store in Bristol with a new outlet set to open in Westfield London in its current year.
Carson said: “We remain cognisant of the challenging economic environment facing our customers which is expected to continue throughout FY24.
“We therefore believe that continuing to focus on our value driven proposition is extremely important so that everyone is able to create the home they love.”
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