Laura Ashley swings to full year loss
Fashion and homewares retailer Laura Ashley made a pre-tax loss of £14.3 million in the year to 30 June.
This compares to a pre-tax profit of £0.1 million in the prior year.
Total sales declined to £232.5 million from a previous £257.2 million. Like-for-like retail sales dropped by 3.5% despite a 9.2% increase in like-for-like fashion sales.
The retailer blamed the home furnishing category for the drop in profit as well its website which was re-platformed in November 2018.
Andrew Khoo, Laura Ashley chairman, said: “We have focused on the reasons why home furnishings have under performed and have taken necessary steps to mitigate this, including adding new contemporary product to our ranges.
“We have taken active steps to listen to our customers and now believe that we are on an appropriate recovery path. We continue to invest in our website and are working with our online service providers to ensure that it is optimised to deliver an enhanced customer experience and to achieve the desired growth.”
