Online retail giant breaks through £2bn turnover level
Online retail giant The Very Group has smashed the £2bn turnover barrier, and returned to profit.
The former Littlewoods brand, based in Speke, South Liverpool, revealed annual results to June 30, today showing a 10.5% increase in retail sales to £1.23bn, driving group revenue growth of 2.9% to £2.051bn.
Pre-tax profits were £48m, compared with a pre-tax loss of £185.5m last year, and underlying EBITDA was £264m, each including COVID-19-related costs.
It said Very.co.uk customers increased 14.1% to 3.4 million, boosting total group customers by 10.6% to 4.5 million.
The group finished the year in strong financial health, with a cash balance of more than £200m and net debt reducing by £144m.
it also revealed a strong start to fiscal year 2021, with group retail sales in double-digit growth.
Chief executive Henry Birch said: “I am delighted to announce a strong set of results and a return to profitability in FY20 thanks to the combination of the commitment of our people and our flexible and resilient business model.
“Despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, the business has proven its adaptability yet again.
“We delivered for record levels of new customers, who used the Very app for items to entertain their families and improve their homes, and increasingly valued our flexible ways to spread the cost.
“We prioritised the safety of our colleagues, whilst remaining focused on customer experience.
“We migrated to, tested and launched Skygate, our new automated fulfilment centre, which enables us to process customer orders within 30 minutes, whilst materially reducing costs and is all set to support our Q2 peak trading period.”
He added: “The economic landscape will remain unpredictable.
“However, we believe our flexible and resilient business model, which gives customers access to the brands they love via flexible ways to pay, will help us thrive as customers continue to rely on online shopping.
“Our purpose, ‘to make good things easily accessible to more people’, has never been more relevant.”
During the year there was strong sales growth across most product categories: Electrical (+18.0%) driven by audio and small domestic appliances (+76.0% and +22.9% respectively); home (+13.0%), with garden tools the standout category (+35.2%); other categories (+10.5%), which includes toys, gifts, beauty and leisure; fashion and sports (+0.9%), including strong growth in women’s and children’s sports clothing (+21.6% and +22.6% respectively).
The recent lockdown measures have led to an acceleration of the group’s digital agenda by three years, it revealed.
All office-based colleagues began working from home, which included introducing new ‘Call Centre as a Service’ technology to enable customer care colleagues to work from home for the first time, reflecting a significant acceleration in the digital agenda.
Based on colleague feedback, in fiscal year 2021, all office-based colleagues will move to a flexible working model, which includes part office and part remote working.
