GRAHAM HISCOTT Laura Crashley Chain’s profits down 98% after ‘challenging’ year

PROFITS at struggling high street chain Laura Ashley crashed 98% last year.

The firm, famed for its chintzy designs, made just £100,000 – down from £6.3million in the previous 12 months.

Bosses joined other embattled retailers in blaming a combination of “challenging” and “difficult” trading conditions.

Sales in its 160 UK stores fell 6.3% to £236million after it closed shops.

Home accessories – the biggest chunk of its business – dropped 3.6%, with furniture down 8.2%.

Fashion was a bright spot – up 7.2% in the UK. The firm, founded in 1953, also has 213 stores abroad, run on a franchise basis.

Its quintessentially English styles are a particular hit in Asia, and it is opening two shops in Thailand.

But a tie-up with a local firm covering Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan ends next month. It has secured a new distribution deal with a Japanese firm.

However, Laura Ashley yesterday announced plans to sell a headquarters in Singapore that was meant to be its base for a big push into the region. It will lose £4.7million on the property deal, it said.

Chairman Dr Khoo Kay Peng, insisted: “Whilst the trading environment will continue to be challenging, we remain resolutely confident in the underlying strength of this much-loved brand in its relevance for today’s consumer and in our strategies to both maintain and develop the brand and the company.”

Laura Ashley opened one store and shut eight across the UK over the year and revealed it plans to close another five in the year ahead.

The firm wants to expand its new hotel venture, with plans for more across the UK and internationally after the success of its franchised hotel in the Lake District, The Belsfield.

It will also add to its fledgling tea rooms’ chain.

The audiobooks market is booming, with Amazon the biggest player by far, according to research.Industry experts Enders Analysis estimate UK sales of the books – where someone reads the text – were “comfortably more than £100million” last year.Audible, which online giant Amazon bought in 2008, saw its UK turnover surge 45% to£97m in 2017.The firm has signed big money deals – including Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson reading Alice in Wonderland – to drive demand.But Enders warned it was another challenge to traditional book publishers. BIG DEAL Scarlett Johansson to read Alice

EMBATTLED The high street chain

DRESS UP Fashion sales are a bright spot