LONDON (Alliance News) - Clothing retailer Bonmarche Holdings PLC hiked its dividend Tuesday after annual profit jumped more than a third despite revenue falling, amid strong online sales growth.
For the year ended March, pretax profit widened 38% to GBP8.0 million from GBP5.8 million the year prior. This was despite revenue falling 2.2% to GBP186.0 million from GBP190.1 million the year before.
Profit performance was helped by a fall in administrative expenses during the year. Administrative costs dropped 13% to GBP25.8 million from GBP29.6 million the year before.
Bonmarche proposed a 5.25 pence per share final dividend, up 13% from 4.64p the year prior. For the full year, the dividend rose 8.5% to 7.75p from 7.14p the year before.
"Against the backdrop of challenging trading conditions, I am pleased that we have delivered an increase in profit before tax compared to last year," Bonmarche Chief Executive Officer Helen Connolly said.
"We have made good progress in all areas, particularly online, where we have seen strong growth, whilst also making improvements through a number of other self-help initiatives including the product proposition, the loyalty scheme, and developing a more agile supply base," Connolly added.
Online sale rose 35%, whilst like-for-like store sales fell 4.5%.
"Whilst we expect the market to remain difficult, trading since the beginning of the new financial year has been stronger than during the second half of FY18, and is in line with the board's expectations," Connolly continued. "We have a clear strategy in place to continue to improve our proposition, which we expect to do during financial 2019 and beyond. We remain confident that with its unique offering, aimed at fashion and value conscious women, Bonmarche is well positioned for future growth."
Shares in Bonmarche were 7.4% higher at 110.10 pence on Tuesday.