Online retailer Very Group, which operates the Very and Littlewoods online retail businesses, has reported a slight increase in Very UK sales as group revenues slipped.
According to its full year results for the 52 weeks ended 29 June 2024, total group sales fell 1% to £2.13bn, while Very UK revenues rose 0.7% to £1.84bn from £1.82bn in 2023.
Resilient top line and careful cost management saw pre-exceptional operating profit grow 17.1% to £218.3m, its highest level since FY19, with operating costs as a percentage of revenue reaching the lowest the Group has ever achieved at 23.2%, despite inflationary pressures.
EBITDA resulted at £267.6m, up 8.4% from £246.9m in the previous year.
Despite poor weather impacting garden (-16.5%), Very only saw a slight decline in its Home category (-0.7%) reflecting resilience in the market. The retailer saw growth in nursery (+15.2%) and beds (+6.2%), but this was offset by declines in garden, upholstery (-5.1%) and home textiles (-2.7%).
Robbie Feather, CEO at The Very Group, commented: “Our unique business model, combining multicategory digital retail with flexible ways to pay, is more relevant than ever for our customers. In a challenging environment, our results reflect a resilient retail performance that remained ahead of the UK online non-food market, as well as a continued strong Very Finance performance.
“This top line resilience coupled with our continual focus on strong cost management, has driven robust earnings growth in the year. Our results are thanks to the inherent strength of our business model and our loyal and growing customer base. This is underpinned by the tireless work of our people and the benefits of our customer focused investment.
“We are relentlessly focused on our customers’ needs and are adept at continuous transformation to make sure we meet and beat their expectations. We continue to invest in finding new ways to serve our customers, enhancing their shopping experience and giving them access to our wide range of products covering almost every area of life. This is then supported by the convenience and breadth of our flexible ways to pay.
“We can look back on our FY24 performance with pride and I am confident that we have a great platform on which to build further.”
