Liberty annual sales rise with help from beauty, home and accessories

The owner of luxury department store Liberty has reported record revenues for the 52 weeks ending 28 January 2023, but says profit remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Total revenue, which includes Liberty Retail, Liberty Fabrics and Liberty Brand, totalled £184 million against £149 million the previous year.

As COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in the spring of 2022, footfall in London improved and the retailer's flagship store returned to trading "more representative of pre-pandemic levels".

The store also continued to show resilience in the Christmas period, despite high levels and cost-of-living concerns persisting.

All product categories performed well in-store, with own-brand products outperforming third-party brands and a "strong" performance from accessories, home and beauty.

Liberty also reported another record year for its beauty advent calendar and 'Beauty Drop' subscription service, expanding further with more active subscribers at the end of the period.

Online, the retailer continued to grow as it made improvements to the efficiency of its ecommerce business operations with a focus on improving the EBITDA contribution from online sales.

However, total EBITDA was £21 million against £25 million pre-pandemic. Liberty said this shortfall was present across all business units.

The Liberty Fabrics business delivered another year of revenue growth despite "challenging market conditions", whilst the Liberty Brand continued to focus on product development with a series of new launches across accessories, beauty, jewellery and homeware.