The Very Group has announced a £ 125 million funding package from investors to support its future growth following a £ 2 million half-year loss.
The billionaire Barclay family owns the business, which stated that the funding will “support its growth strategy” and that both investors will have a seat on the board.
In the meantime, revenue increased to £ 1.226 billion from £ 1.219 billion in the half-year ended 31st December, and EBITDA increased by 10.1 per cent to £ 130.7 million from £ 118.7 million in the same period last year. However, it had previously made a profit of £ 2.1 million on that basis, therefore its pre-tax loss was £ 2 million. Higher interest rates were the cause of the loss.
UK revenue increased to £ 1.05 billion, or 2.7 per cent. Although very.co.uk led the way and generated 86 per cent of the group’s revenue, sales at Littlewoods fell to £128.9 million from £147.3 million, and at Very Ireland, sales decreased to £39.6 million from £42 million.
Additionally, the company reported that group retail sales of sports and fashion declined 5.9 per cent year over year, with a specific 5 per cent decline at Very UK, albeit at a slower rate. The issue continued to be one of strong fashion marketing, with premium fashion in particular seeing strong growth of 18.4 per cent.
