Profits at sofas retailer ScS edged down last year and the retailer reported that the trading environment has been harder in the first quarter of the new financial year. 

Scs, which yesterday disclosed it has agreed to a nearly £100m sale to Italian counterpart Poltronesofà, generated gross delivered sales last year of £343.5m compared to £344.7m the previous year.

There was a £5.4m reduction at ScS as a result of an order book unwind in 2022, which was partially offset by £4.2m of sales from Snug, acquired out of administration in January.

ScS reported underlying profit before tax of £7.2m in the year to July 29. That compared to £13.8m the previous year and included a £1.9m loss from Snug.

The retailer revealed that “trading has toughened over the first quarter”. ScS’ like-for-like order intake rose 2.7% in August, falling to 0.3% in September and then declining 4.4% in October.

Chief executive Steve Carson said: “We are pleased to announce a resilient set of results and to continue to take market share in what is a challenging environment. We were also delighted to see continued progress in year two of our strategy, including modernising our product offering, investing in our store estate, refreshing and relaunching our brand and advertising and announcing the acquisition of Snug.

“We remain cognisant of the challenging economic environment facing our customers which is expected to continue throughout financila year 2024. 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.

“The board is confident that the group’s strategy and strong balance sheet will enable ongoing trading resilience and we continue to expect to grow market share while investing in stores, in our digital proposition, and other strategic growth opportunities.”

Topics

Related Companies