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Hobbycraft has reported a 200% increase in like-for-like online sales in its FY results as it appears to have weathered the impact of the coronavirus.
For the year ended 16 February 2020, the craft retailer reported an 8.9% increase in revenues to £193.6m.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 21.9% to £14.8m compared with £12.2m in the same period last year.
Hobbycraft also opened five new stores during the period, bringing its total store portfolio at year end to 99.
The retailer said the 12-week lockdown period, when all 100 stores were closed, “significantly impacted total sales”. As such it said its focus turned to fulfilling customers’ needs via its online business and through daily “kids craft club” classes on social media channels.
During this time the retailer experienced “exceptional levels” of customer demand with sales growing in excess of 200% LFL with its craft classes reaching over 15 million customers.
Hobbycraft CEO, Dominic Jordan, said: “We are pleased with our performance and how our offer improved again over the past year. We continue to execute our strategy with improvements in product ranges supporting multi-channel growth.
“Our broad range of products continues to evolve with more specialist materials and newness ensuring that we satisfy the needs of craft enthusiasts and stay ahead of the competition. New ranges delivered growth across a number of areas including art which saw growth of 20%, kids painting at 17% and digital cutting with growth of over 100%.”
He added: “Our resolute focus on the strategy will see us bring further product innovation and inspiration, a new approach to online demonstrations and workshops, new stores and further investment in our e-commerce platform to support future growth.
“As ever, these plans are underpinned by a focus on great customer service and colleague engagement. We seek to provide inspiration to customers in the local communities we serve and allow our colleagues to demonstrate their incredible knowledge and passion for crafting.”
