• EBITDA for the health and beauty group grew 12.2%
  • Like-for-like sales increased 7%
  • Online sales rose 27.5%

Holland & Barrett’s full-year sales and profits rose in what finance boss Christian Keen deemed a “strong financial performance”.

The health and beauty retailer reported a 12.2% increase in group EBITDA to £146m in the year to September 30, 2015, while like-for-like sales climbed 7%.

The retailer’s like-for-likes were driven by increased sales across its UK store estate, where like-for-likes grew 10.4%. Sales across Holland & Barrett’s 1,071-strong international store portfolio, including outlets in The Netherlands and Belgium as well as franchised stores in China, grew 11.7%.

Online sales were up 27.5% driven by a 127% rise in mobile sales.

Chief financial officer Christian Keen credited the retailer’s “strong financial performance” to “a combination of continued investment in store openings and refurbishments and realising the value of our omnichannel growth strategy”.

The retailer focused on growing its international business over the last year, increasing its store estate in Ireland from 47 to 50 stores and committing to a warehouse comprising 70,000 sq ft in Dublin to increase its distribution capacity in the country as well as in Sweden.

Holland & Barrett also opened a new head office in Amsterdam to facilitate the expansion of its warehouse facilities in The Netherlands.

“At the end of March this year we completed our 28th consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth,” said Keen.

“We have set ourselves a challenging target to become a £1bn business by 2020, drawing on plans for further international growth and our ability to leverage our position as part of the NBTY Group.”

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