‘Ongoing economic pressures’ cause The Very Group's sales to tumble

The Very Group, which operates digital retailers Very and Littlewoods, has revealed that its sales have tumbled by 3.8% to £392.1 million during the 13 weeks ended 28 September 2024.

During the quarter, total group revenue decreased by 4.9% to £450.2 million “as a result of the ongoing tough economic environment”.

The company said, that despite this, “we have delivered an improved earnings performance in Q1, with our continued focus on cost control contributing to increased adjusted EBITDA2, up 7.8% year on year to £56.7 million".

Very UK represented 87% of sales and saw a decrease in revenue of 3.8% to £392.1 million and Littlewoods reported a double-digit revenue dip of 14.4% to £45 million.

Overall retail sales for Very decreased 4.6% to £286.4 million, impacted by an 8.6% downturn in Fashion and Sport because of the “heavily discounted and contracting market”. However, Beauty sales were up by 4.2% and Home sales were up by 2.5%.

Robbie Feather, The Very Group CEO, said: "Our unique business model, combining multicategory digital retail with flexible ways to pay, is more relevant than ever for our customers. In a challenging environment, our results reflect a resilient retail performance that remained ahead of the UK online non-food market, as well as a continued strong Very Finance performance.

"This top line resilience coupled with our continual focus on strong cost management, has driven robust earnings growth in the year. Our results are thanks to the inherent strength of our business model and our loyal and growing customer base."