Losses widen at The Very Group

Operating profit fell to 35% year on year to £27.6m, while total group revenue decreased by 4.9% to £450.2m as a result of the ongoing tough economic environment.

The group said: “As expected, the market in Q1 FY25 proved challenging given ongoing economic pressures and as a result, we saw a decline in Very UK sales.

Within total revenue, the brand Very UK represents 87% of sales and had a 3.8% drip in revenue to £392.1m year on year, while sales for the Littlewoods brand declined 14.4% to £45.0m. However, Very Group said this “is in line with expectations as the managed decline strategy for this brand continues”.

The group added: “Whilst we have seen challenges in the retail market, particularly within fashion and sports, our home sales have improved which also generate a high margin. As we continue to focus on higher margin sales and cost discipline, we expect to see a strengthening of the profitability of our business in FY25.”

Overall sales for fashion and sports dropped 8.6% due to a “heavily discounted and contracting market”, however, premium fashion grew year on year by 1.6%. Meanwhile, sales within homeware grew 2.8% year on year.

Very Group delivered pre-exceptional EBITDA of £54.5m for the quarter, a 10.1% drop year on year.