Oliver Bonas profits have dipped as shoppers tighten belts

Oliver Bonas reported turnover of £135.8m for the year to December 31, 2023, up from £115.03m last year.

Despite the rising sales, operating profit at the retailer dipped from £9.28m to £8.95m for the year.

Oliver Bonas also reported a decrease in pre-tax profit from £9.07m to £8.64m in 2023 as the retailer felt the impact of soaring interest rates and waning consumer demand.

During the year, the retailer said its headcount increased by a further 200 as the company continued on its expansion with seven new openings and eight upsizings and relocations. Oliver Bonas now has a UK total store estate of 85.

With an eye to the retailer’s future focus, it said it has “belief in the multichannel approach” and will continue to invest in stores as well as its online business.

In terms of outlook, Oliver Bonas called growth during the first quarter a silver lining and said it was “much stronger than expected”.

In a statement, it said: ”We entered 2023 with inflation at 10.5% in the UK and an economy barely growing. Interest rates were increasing rapidly as the Bank of England struggled to tame the inflationary spike.

“Although inflation did fall throughout the year, interest rates had to rise to higher levels and the economy entered technical recession in the second half of the year.

“One bright spot was wage growth, but overall the economic backdrop led to subdued discretionary consumer spending.

“We remain committed to our multichannel approach and were pleased that, despite the economic backdrop, both stores and web achieved positive like-for-like sales growth.

“Across the store estate, we continued to invest, opening seven new stores and relocating or increasing the size of eight more.

“On the digital side, all websites grew with the second half of the year showing a significant increase. Part of this was due to fewer disruptions across the peak period.

“Overall, although profits before tax fell by 5%, EBITDA rose by 11%, a healthy increase.”