The Works on track to beat profit forecast after year of strong progress
The Works has hailed a year of significant progress as it reported that revenue increased by 3.2% to £260 million in the 52 weeks to 3 May.
Like-for-like sales were up 3.3% in the period with particularly strong growth of 5.3% in the retailer’s fourth quarter.
Subscribe to TRBThe Works said it made strong progress in the first full year of its growth strategy as it delivered on a £2 million cost reduction programme, which partially offset inflationary pressures.
It also continued to implement its store optimisation programme with five new store openings in the year. As a result, it operated 508 shops at the year end.
As a result of the performance, The Works is now expecting pre-IFRS 16 adjusted EBITDA to come in ahead of expectations at around £14 million compared with £9.5 million in the prior year.
In March, The Works announced that it had ceased trading on its online channel and was transitioning to a non-transactional website as it looked to focus on its successful bricks and-mortar business.
Gavin Peck, chief executive of The Works, said: “We delivered very strong strategic and financial progress during FY26. This was driven by sales growth across all four of our key product categories reflecting the diverse and increasing year-round appeal of the group’s product proposition.
“Our outperformance against the broader high-street supports our strong conviction that The Works’
brand and product proposition, which is aligned to families’ growing demand for affordable screen free activities, is increasingly relevant and underpins our plans for further growth.”
The Works said growing demand for affordable screen-free activities means it remains confident in achieving its recently upgraded FY27 guidance and medium-term EBITDA goal of at least £22.5 million in
FY30.
Peck added: “While we remain mindful of the challenging macroeconomic environment, the board is confident that The Works is well placed to achieve further strategic progress and profitable growth in FY27.”
