Conversely, last year, the company’s online sales were boosted by retail closures, which is why they planned online sales to be down in the first quarter against last year. Online sales against three years ago remained strong and were up 47 per cent versus 2019-20, the company said in a press release.
“In our year-end results in March we forecast that, at our central guidance, we would generate around £220m of surplus cash (after interest, tax, capital expenditure, investments or acquisitions and ordinary dividends), which we would either return to shareholders (via share buybacks or special dividends) or invest in equity stakes in potential total platform clients. Since then, we have purchased £107.5 million of shares and spent £20 million acquiring minority stakes in a number of businesses, the lion's share of this investment being in JoJo Maman BéBé,” the release added.
The company is maintaining its guidance for full year profit before tax at £850 million, which would be up 3.3 per cent versus last year.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (RR)
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