FatFace reports strong December trading period

FatFace saw a strong December trading period, which the company attributes to the decision of no discounts getting vindicated by the strong final 10 days trading pre-Christmas across all of its stores. For the five weeks period to January 3, 2015, sales were up 13 percent on last year, whereas retail like-for-like sales went up 5 percent. The company’s e-commerce sales grew 25 percent against December 2013.

Commenting on the December trading, Anthony Thompson, Chief Executive of FatFace, said, “We have seen a strong multi-channel performance over the Christmas trading period where we maintained our stance of not discounting prior to our Boxing Day sale. This Christmas was a watershed moment for online, with a number of new trends reflecting the demand for convenience from time-poor customers.”

Announcing its unaudited financial results for 26 weeks to November 29, 2014, the company said, the business had a solid first half to the year in difficult trading conditions, however the business was impacted by the unseasonably warm weather in the second quarter of its financial year. Total sales for the 26 week highlights remained flat at 99 million pounds (149.7 million dollars). Total EBITDA too remained broadly flat at 19.2 million pounds (29 million dollars), however, e-commerce performance was strong with sales up by 11 percent, now representing 16 percent of overall sales. The company opened two new stores in December bringing the total to 212.

“After a strong first quarter in which we faced strong comparatives from the prior year, we were impacted by the difficult trading conditions for the remainder of the half, as the warm weather persisted across the UK. We have continued to improve and expand our store footprint with some fantastic new stores, as well as strategic relocations which have allowed us to showcase a broader product range to our customers,” added Thompson.