Beauty boosts annual sales at Liberty
Historic London department store Liberty has reported full year sales grew to £82 million in 2021/2022, a rise from £59.6 million in the year prior.
Liberty published its financial report for the 52 week period ending 29 January 2022, confirming EBITDA stood at £3.53 million (£12.34 million in 2020). This remains behind the pre-COVID period, which saw an EBITDA of £14.4 million in 2019.
The luxury department store narrowed its pre-tax loss, totalling £187,000 in comparison to £2.83 million in 2020. It recorded a net profit of £4.74 million, improving on its previous financial profit of £1.78 million the year prior.
Liberty's beauty sector saw significant growth, partially due to the launch of the 'Beauty Drop', which sets out to continue improving long-term sales. The business confirmed it expects to eventually see higher retention levels of high-value customers.
During the financial period, Liberty underwent two store renovation projects, updating the Grade II listed building.
Liberty's report also confirmed it utilised the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claiming a total of £453,000 in the financial year from HMRC (down from £2.49 million in the previous year). Overall, staff numbers were reduced by 34 workers during the year.
Read TheIndustry.beauty's feature on Is Liberty revolutionising the beauty subscription box market?
