Fortnum & Mason has reported soaring profits and sales for the year off the back of what it described as strong multichannel performance.

The luxury food retailer said its pre-tax profit jumped 26% to £12.1m for the 52 weeks to July 14, 2019.

Sales also increased 12% to £138m, representing the seventh successive year that Fortnum & Mason have enjoyed double-digit sales growth.

The luxury retailer, which operates an iconic store in London’s Piccadilly as well as a number of smaller sites including at St Pancras International and the Royal Exchange, hailed “strong multichannel performance and progressive retail expansion programme”.

Online sales rose 13% on the previous year.

Sales at Fortnum’s travel site at St Pancras showed a rise of 15%, the company’s destination restaurant at 45 Jermyn St, is up 14%.

UK domestic sales drove the majority of sales of Fortnum’s tradition products at Piccadilly, The Royal Exchange, Heathrow Terminal 5 and St Pancras International, with tea increasing by 11%.

The luxury food retailer also enjoyed excellent overseas growth, particularly in Hong Kong and Japan, which saw sales increase 16% and 28% respectively.

Chief executive of Fortnum & Mason, Ewan Venters, said: “We are very pleased to report another year of strong growth across our business, particularly within the context of the significant challenges facing the retail sector. Our reputation for delighting our customers around the world with the finest products and exceptional service drives us all to keep innovating and searching for the best partners and suppliers.

“I am delighted that before Christmas we will be trading from our first standalone store in Asia as we open a shop and restaurant in Hong Kong and we are now looking forward to a busy and successful Christmas. We believe the particular brand of festive cheer that Fortnum’s strives to deliver will be a welcome relief in these uncertain times.”

On the topic of its new Hong Kong flagship and restaurant, which opened last week, Venters said the store was hitting “between 50% and 55% of its sales target” despite the civil unrest affecting the city, which he called a “heartening statistic”.

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