Victoria's post-lockdown boom after first-half loss
November 30, 2020
The pandemic pushed Victoria plc into a first-half loss of nearly £3m but the company reports a "record post-lockdown performance" and like-for-like growth of 9.2%.
The interim results, for the 6 months ending October 30 showed sales of £305m compared to £312m in the same period last year while profit before tax slumped to a loss of £2.9m from a profit of £5.5m last year.
However, the Board said that despite widespread government lockdowns in Q1, overall H1 revenue performance broadly in line with the prior year, due to record post-lockdown performance, with like-for-like growth of +9.2%.
Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman of Victoria PLC commented: "The strong demand we are currently experiencing for our products is expected to continue due to consumers prioritising spending on their home environment, supported by some of the highest household savings rates on record. As a result, meaningful organic growth is expected to continue into the New Year.
“The underlying resilience of Victoria was proven during the challenging conditions of FY21. The strength of the Group’s operational management, the skill and flexibility of our workforce, our robust customer loyalty, and the strength of our balance sheet, came together under the most difficult trading conditions in living memory to deliver an outstanding result for its shareholders," he said.
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