House of Fraser full year profits soar

House of Fraser said that EBITDA reached £85.7m during the year on gross transaction values up 2.3% at £1.1bn. Like-for-like sales grew by 4.1%.

The department store said that it had issued the £250m bond to “put in place a long-term financial structure for growth”.

The retailer added that trading since the year end in the first 13 weeks of the year had been strong with like-for-like sales continuing to grow, up 3%.

Sales of its house brands, which comprise own brands such as Howick, Untold, Therapy and Linea, increased by 50% during the full year and in the last 13 weeks rose 30%.

Multichannel sales at the business rose by 130% during the year and continued to grow in the last 13 weeks, up 107%.

Adjusted EBITDA before exceptional gains was £69.7m in the year, up from £64.2m the year before.

The retailer said that it had strengthened its balance sheet and reduced its debt to £161m.

House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy said:  “We have delivered another strong trading performance, despite the tough consumer environment.

“We will continue to focus on building our market position as the leading premium department store group in UK and Ireland, introducing and developing more exciting brands and accelerating our multichannel activity.

“With our strong management team and clear strategy, we believe we are well positioned to continue to grow the business in the future.”