Fortnum & Mason expects to have its best Christmas to date after website sales helped annual revenues and profit hit a record high.
The upmarket department store group reported sales up 19% to £88 million for the year to the end of July. Pre-tax profit jumped 31% from a year earlier to £5 million.
Sales in stores open a year or more, including its flagship site on London’s Piccadilly, rose by 13%, while online sales rose by 22%, helped by a revamped website, and a store at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 has traded better than expected.
The company said it predicts hampers and food to push sales at Christmas, traditionally its strongest trading period.
The group, owned by the Weston family that controls Associated British Foods, has branched out from its Piccadilly base to capitalise on demand for posh gifts and food. It opened a shop at London’s St Pancras station in 2013 and a store in Dubai last year, followed by the Heathrow store and bar.
Chair of Fortnum & Mason, Kate Hobhouse, said: “We are delighted with these figures, which are the reward for the programme of enhancements we have brought to the brand during the year. We’re now focused on Christmas and all the signs suggest we are going to have our best festive season on record. I am confident that the upward trajectory of our business will continue.”
