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The Works has revealed that its profit-before-tax rose 20.3% to £8.3m for the year ended 4 May 2025, up from £6.9m in the previous year.
Alongside this, the company delivered total revenues of £277m, a decrease of 2% from the prior year, which benefitted from an additional trading week.
The company’s total like-for-like sales were ahead of the wider non-food retail market, increasing by 0.8%.
Store sales, which represent over 90% of total sales, continued to be the primary driver of growth, increasing 2.3% on a LFL basis, driven by more customer-focussed events, new products across all categories, improved store standards and product availability.
Online sales declined by 12.1%, impacted by temporary capacity constraints at its third-party provider during peak and a focus on improving the profitability of this channel. The Works also delivered a strong performance post-Christmas, with Q4 total LFL sales up 6.4%.
It comes after the company launched a new strategy in January 2025, ‘Elevating The Works’, giving it a clear plan and ambitious targets.
It launched a new approach to customer campaigns, including more customer-focussed events that drove footfall to stores and increased the all-year-round appeal of The Works.
It also continued optimisation of store estate with seven openings, 15 closures and four relocations, resulting in a higher quality and more profitable portfolio of 503 stores, down from 511 stores.
Looking ahead, the board expects to deliver pre-IFRS 16 adjusted EBITDA in line with recently upgraded external forecasts of £11m. It stated it remained on track to deliver sales in excess of £375m and an EBITDA margin of at least 6% within five years.
CEO Gavin Peck said: “We are delighted to have ended FY25 in line with recently upgraded market expectations in a year defined by ongoing uncertainty and fragile consumer confidence. This encouraging performance is a huge credit to the early success of our new strategy launched in January 2025, ‘Elevating the Works’, which is already delivering tangible results.
“It is also thanks to the continued hard work of our dedicated and passionate colleagues, who have worked hard to drive improvements across the business. Guided by our new strategy, we are focusing our efforts on becoming the favourite destination for affordable, screen-free activities for the whole family.”
