Furniture firm sitting pretty
Sunderland furniture giant ScS is comfortably in profit after announcing its interim results.
The firm has revealed its results for the 26 weeks to the end of January.
Gross sales were up 1.2% to £159.2million, while revenue rose 1.1% to £151.4 million.
Gross profit also increased, up 1.5% to £71.5million, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations improved by £0.3million to £3.4million.
Like-for-like order intake rose 1.5% and continued investment in the firm’s e-commerce offering saw online sales increase by 30% to £7.8million.
Chief executive David Knight said: “The group continues to deliver profitable growth whilst increasing its resilience.
“The board is pleased with the group’s year to date trading, which is in line with its expectations. For the 33 weeks ended 16 March, 2019, the group achieved like-for-like order intake growth of 2.9% and twoyear like-for-like order intake growth of 4.6%.
“Our focus on providing excellent choice, value and quality for our customers, coupled with our commitment to delivering against our strategic priorities, continues to prove successful.
“The retail market continues to suffer in the midst of the uncertain economic and political environment.
“We, therefore, expect the trading environment to continue to remain challenging in the short to medium-term, although the board is confident that the group is well positioned to maximise opportunities as they arise.”