Hobbycraft full-year profits surge as sales rise

The specialist retailer reported a 28% jump in adjusted EBITDA to £12.2m in the year to February 17, driven by a 5.4% boost in total revenue to £177.7m.

The retailer’s ecommerce sales climbed 23% during the period.

Hobbycraft opened five new stores in the year, taking its overall bricks-and-mortar portfolio to 94.

The retailer, which ended the year with 3.9 million members of its loyalty card scheme, drove in-store footfall through in-store demos and workshops, which 100,000 customers attended over the course of the year.

Chief executive Dominic Jordan said: “We are pleased with our performance and how our offer has improved over the past year.

“We continue to pursue our plans for multichannel growth as we target our strategy to improve the broader appeal of our brand. This is being achieved through leveraging our broad product range which meets the needs of core hobbyists, families and everyday makers, with a continued focus on delivering value to our customers.

“Our focus remains on great customer service and colleague engagement as we seek to provide help and inspiration to customers in their local communities. Our in-store workshop programme plays a key role where our colleagues demonstrate their incredible knowledge and passion for crafting whilst helping customers with their projects.

“Looking ahead, whilst we expect the retail environment to remain challenging we are well placed to continue to execute our growth plans, with initial trading in the first quarter of this year ahead of the prior year.”