Exclusive: Wilko starts tough year on back foot with loss

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Wilko swung to a loss at the beginning of the year, as the tail end of lockdowns, supply chain disruption and plummeting consumer demand all took their toll.

In the year to January 29, 2022, Wilko reported a loss of £36.8m while EBITDA nearly halved from £48.3m to £24.2m. Like-for-like sales declined 3.1% year on year to £1.32bn.

The financial filings for the 2021/22 financial year lay bare the parlour state of the retailer’s finances heading into the current financial year, which has been blighted by runaway inflation and plummeting consumer confidence.

As was revealed by Retail Week in November, Wilko completed the sale and leaseback of its Nottingham distribution centre for £48m. The retailer has also been in talks with lenders about securing a further £30m in emergency funding to ease cost pressures heading into Christmas.

Wilko said it invested £36.1m into its supply chain and multichannel capabilities last year, despite its struggles. Categories such as gardening and pet care were strong performers, with sales up 11.8% and 11.9% year on year respectively.

Chief executive Jerome Saint-Marc told Retail Week: “Last financial year was tough for retail and that has continued into this year. We’ve remained focused on cost control and driving sales, as well as making some material changes to the way we operate in the face of difficult trading over the past two years.

“The recent sale and leaseback of our distribution centre to DHL unlocked £48m, which has enabled us to repay our revolving credit facility in full. Our relationship with our lending partners is solid. We’re taking this opportunity, now that the deal is done, to review how we manage our ongoing financing to best trade through the current retail environment while continuing to invest in our future.

“To drive growth, we’ve accelerated our omnichannel offer, making Wilko even easier to shop with. We’ve launched click and collect in 72 stores with 69 more stores coming online before Christmas and plans to roll out further.

“We’ve made Wilko products available on three additional marketplaces – Amazon, eBay and OnBuy – driving significant sales growth year on year. And, excitingly, we have even more omnichannel enhancements to come.”