House of Fraser has reported a rise in full-year sales and profits, helped by a strong performance from its online business.

The department store group’s like-for-like sales in the year to the end of January climbed by 5.8%. House of Fraser generated a gross transaction value of £1.3bn while EBITDA in the period was up 7% to £66.4m.

The group, which was acquired last year by Chinese firm Sanpower, said online sales jumped by 32% over the 12 months and now represent 15.4% of sales. Like-for-likes were up 2.2% in its shops.

As reported by Retail Week in January, House of Fraser said that for the first time its ecommerce operation became the most profitable store in the group last year. It has been the largest store by sales for three years.

“Our online business has performed exceptionally strongly and has substantial future potential”, said Nigel Oddy, House of Fraser’s chief executive.

Looking ahead, the group said it plans to “significantly increase” its investment in its multichannel offer and will upgrade six stores over the coming year.

The firm’s plans internationally include opening a second franchise store in Abu Dhabi and more stores in the Middle East. Three large stores in the Chinese cities of Nanjing, Chongqing and Xuzhou are also planned.

The group is also set to start trading online in China and “other” international markets, beginning with Australia.

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