House of Fraser first-half EBITDA grows as online and own brand power sales

Total gross transaction value hit £542m in the half to July 26.

Like-for-likes accelerated to 6.6% in the first eight weeks of its third quarter at the department store, which was formally bought by Chinese department store Nanjing Cenbest earlier this month. For the 37 weeks to September 20, like-for-likes are up 5%.

House of Fraser chief executive John King said: “We are very pleased with our performance over the last six months, which has been driven by the continued success of our leading multichannel offering and the strength of our premium branded proposition.”

“As a business, we are committing £150 million of investment in the UK over the next four years to further improve the shopping experience for our customers, through better store environments and developments to our online platform. We are excited by our future growth prospects both in the UK and abroad.”

Online and own brands continued to power sales at the department store.

Ecommerce sales jumped 29% over the first half, and now represent 14.2% of sales, while house brand revenue surged 10.7% and gross profit grew 13.4%.

The retailer redesigned its website which it said drove a higher number of customer visits and higher conversion.

However, store sales continued to grow, up 1.2% over the period. The retailer refurbished its Bath store and upgraded  other shops such as Meadowhall and Glasgow. Meanwhile, it has signed for its second international store in Abu Dhabi, which will open next year.

The retailer grew sales across all categories. Menswear sales were up 9.7%, womenwear grew 3.4%, fashion accessories rose 3.4%, home was up 1.9% and beauty rose 1.2%.

House of Fraser launched exclusive house brands such as Biba Home and Dickins & Jones Home over the period and extended its own brand range across other categories.

It also added new brands to its offer including Arcadia brands such as Miss Selfridge and premium labels Michael Kors and Polo Ralph Lauren.