SCS Group has earned sales through January 23rd in 26 weeks.
Sofa retailers have grown 13.9% in total sales to £182.3 million over the past six months. This is up from £160 million the previous year.
The SCS Group benefited from a surge in sales during the lockdown and the growing demand during the store closure. Online sales increased 98% in the first quarter.
The new lockdown restrictions meant stores would be closed again, which led to poor sales.
Comapny’s orders cost £900 million. This is £16 million more than the same period in 2019. Similar order intakes fell 9% over the period, but increased 12% in the 21 weeks ended December 19, 2020.
The SCS Group has said it remains “cautiously optimistic” after posting recent results.
“It’s too early to clarify the outlook for weeks and months, but given the strong deals the group has experienced following the first and second lockdowns, we remain cautiously optimistic ”, the group said in a trading statement.
“Given the tactile nature of our products, the majority of customers chose to wait until the store tried our products again before making a purchase decision. This will ensure that the business is not only able to do so. Coupled with increased investment levels at home by UK consumers, it benefited from pent-up demand. The group has built a robust balance sheet and has created this resilience in these difficult times. We continue to focus on costs and cash management to maintain it.”
SCS Group Stocks (LON: SCS) trades +0.48% at 211,00 (0828GMT).
Shore Capital analysts Darren Shirley and Clive Black commented: Everything was closed on January 4th. Stores are reported to be trading strongly while they are open.
“Online, we continue to partially compensate for store closures, increasing 98% over the period, but most customers seem to want a tactile experience of visiting a store before furniture, especially flooring.
“Even at the end of this period, news about SCS’ order book has been extremely encouraging and sits at £90.5 million (£16.8 million from the previous year) on January 26th (INC. VAT).”
