Studio Retail posts strong first half sales
Studio Retail increased its revenue by 17.2% to £268 million in the six months to 25 September after it benefited from more people shopping online and its strategy to grow Studio’s active customer base.
In addition, the company’s adjusted pre-tax profit climbed by 52% to £17.7 million.
Commenting on the results, Phil Maudsley, Studio Retail group chief executive, said: “I am very proud of the way that this group has responded over the last few months to the challenges of Covid-19. These interim results are testament to the strengths of our digitally-focussed value business and the ability of our colleagues and customers to adapt rapidly to change.
“Our strategy to grow the Studio customer base and increase our customers’ spend with us, supported by our flexible credit offer has delivered a record trading performance which underpins our confidence in the group’s medium-term growth prospects .”
Giving an update on more recent trading, Studio said its marketplace was significantly less promotional in November than in the same month in 2019 due to the impact of the second lockdown in England. This has meant the company’s third quarter profit performance has so far been stronger than last year.
Alongside issuing its results, Studio has also announced that it is exploring a sale option as part of a strategic review. The move came about after Frasers Group, which owns around 37% of the business, said in October that Studio is “misunderstood by the market and as a consequence, significantly undervalued” and “although this may be fixable over the long-term, the group should conduct a strategic review”.
Studio said its other major shareholder, Schroder, is also supporting the review.
