Laura Ashley full-year revenues rise despite challenging retail market

10th Apr 2015 15:02

Textile design company Laura Ashley saw its full-year revenues and profits go up despite facing a competitive retail sector.Revenues were up 3% to 303.6m at the company founded by the Welsh fashion designer while profits before tax increased 14.6% to £23.5m, driving earnings per share up from 2.15 in 2013 to 2.51p in 2014.Khoo Kay Peng, the company's Malaysian mogul chairman, said he was pleased with the results despite "ongoing challenges of a competitive retail sector", which were helped by strong online growth and improvements in its digital platform.UK furniture sales decreased by 0.3% due to a competitive market while fashion and decorating departments sales fell 2.8% and 1.5% respectively.However, home accessories sales in the UK increased by 3.5% thanks to broader and improved product ranges.Internationally, revenues were up 10.3% but franchise revenues fell 1.5% to £27.8m due to weakerJapanese economy and challenges in some European economies.Shares were up 1.71% to 29.75p on Friday at 15:28.