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Portmeirion Group saw a return to profitability following a strong H2 trading performance, in its preliminary results for year ended 31 December 2020.
Group revenue was £87.9 million for FY20 (2019: £92.8 million), a decrease of 5.3%, a resilient trading performance against the backdrop of enforced retail shutdown.
Although trading performance improved in H2 of 2020, like-for-like sales were down 5.8% on H2 2019 (H1 2020 against H1 2019: 20.4% decline). There was a significant increase in direct to consumer sales from online channels during the year, which the group said remains a key area of strategic focus and investment.
Sales from its ecommerce platforms increased by 69% over 2019 and it estimated that approximately 47% of total sales in its core UK and US markets were now made via online channels (2019: 30%).
Headline profit before tax stood at £1.4 million (2019: £7.4 million).
No dividends paid or proposed for 2020 but it expected to recommence dividend payments in 2021 assuming a return to normalised trading.
Equity raise in June 2020 provided net proceeds of £11.2 million to: accelerate online channel sales growth; extend Wax Lyrical product lines; build a more significant presence in Canada; and invest in UK manufacturing efficiencies.
The balance sheet was maintained with net cash of £0.7 million (2019: net debt £12.3 million). Cash generative with net debt decreasing by £1.8 million during the year excluding the benefit of the equity raise in June 2020.
Portmeirion Group chief executive Mike Raybould,said:Although 2020 was a challenging year due to the huge disruption caused by Covid-19, our consumer homeware brands have shown great resilience and our business has continued to successfully pivot further to online sales. Pleasingly, we saw strong growth in our own online sales channels and we see the market shift to increased online shopping offering us a great opportunity to expand further in our key markets.
Following the successful equity raise in June 2020, and despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, we have increased our investment into the business and made a number of strategic hires, in particular expanding our online and digital marketing teams and making our operations more efficient.
'We believe this will put our business in a strong position to deliver on our two pillar strategy of generating consistent, sustainable sales growth; and improving our operating margins, thereby converting our sales more effectively into profit. At 9:44am: