Online uplift for Laura Ashley

British fashion and home ware brand Laura Ashley has seen a 10% increase in online sales, which currently account for the 14% of the total business. The company is proud to keep it is international expansion yet selling products that have been mostly

manufactured back home.

“As we expand internationally, we are proud that over 40% of our sales is derived from products manufactured in the UK,” said the company in a statement. “Laura Ashley’s success stems from its high-quality product offering and distinctive style which is based on the brand’s rich design heritage and contemporary interpretations,” CEO of the business added.

Shares in Laura Ashley gained more than 5% as it pointed to strong trading in the current year: in the eight weeks to March 24 like-for-like sales were up 10.9%.

In the year to January 28, profits before taxation and exceptional items fell 2.6% to £18.8m. Total group sales were up 0.3% at £285.9m.

“In what continues to be a very competitive consumer environment, I am pleased that we have maintained the progress of recent years and delivered a resilient set of results, maintaining gross margin and seeing continued like-for-like sales growth across the retail business,” the company’s chairman, Dr K P Khoo, said the second half of the year had proved more challenging, but trading had been robust in recent weeks.

“A strong performance in the first half of the year was followed by a more challenging autumn; we did, however, see a return to stronger trading towards the end of 2011 with a positive trend in like-for-like sales growth. For the first eight weeks of the current financial year to March 24, like-for-like sales growth is 10.9%,” Khoo summarized.

As reported by the Investor´s Business Daily, e-commerce was the star of the show at Laura Ashley last year, and meant that sales held steady despite a 3 per cent reduction in retail selling space. Upgrades to the company's website and expansion into four new European markets drove a 10 per cent increase in online sales, which now account for 14 per cent of the total. And with the brand gaining traction internationally, the shares are worth snapping up.

IBD stressed that underlying pre-tax profits slipped 2.6 per cent to £18.8m, reflecting a particularly difficult consumer environment in the UK last autumn. However, trading improved towards the end of 2011, and the current financial year has started well, with underlying sales in the first eight weeks up 10.9 per cent.