Blue Diamond Garden Centres sales jump 12.5% to £216m
Blue Diamond Garden Centres has increased its first half sales by 12.5% to £216 million, with like-for-like sales up 1.6%, despite the impact of this summer’s challenging weather conditions.
In the six months to 30 June, pre-tax profit also rose, climbing by 16% to £24 million.
Subscribe to TRBBlue Diamond said this was achieved despite tough comparatives from a very strong period last year, when trading was boosted by almost unbroken favourable weather.
Garden centre sales edged up 0.7% in the period, while restaurants grew by 6.2%. Garden furniture was one of the best performing categories, with new ranges proving popular with customers. However, plants and gardening were weaker than the exceptionally strong sales last year.
During the period, Blue Diamond announced a three-year partnership with Diddly Squat Farm and completed two new leasehold acquisitions (Leaf Creative and Holt) and one freehold acquisition (Highfield Garden World).
Looking ahead, Neil McDonald, Blue Diamond group finance director and company secretary, said: “Whilst there are obvious challenges in the UK economy and consumer sentiment at present, our trade is solid and we are looking to the rest of the year with confidence.”
