LONDON (Alliance News) - Specialist kitchen manufacturer and retailer John Lewis of Hungerford PLC on Friday reported a swing to a pretax loss for its most recently ended financial year, hit by some unplanned staffing changes during the year.
The company said that, after a few years of steady growth, the year had served as a reminder of the challenges it faces as a small company.
For the year to end-August, John Lewis of Hungerford reported a pretax loss of GBP145,207, swung from a pretax profit of GBP137,310 a year before, as a slight rise in revenue to GBP7.8 million from GBP7.4 million was offset by higher cost of sales and share-based payments.
After a strong first quarter the company saw the resignations of two of its most experienced designers, and as a result time was diverted to replacing them with individuals of comparable quality. John Lewis of Hungerford said that it had ended the year on a positive note, with strong trading its final quarter, as showroom staffing levels return to normal. However this wasn't enough to recover losses it made earlier in the year.
The company is pursuing a three-year strategic plan, and under this plan has opted not to open further showrooms until it sees an improved financial performance from its 16 mature showrooms, and will work to roll out its current range of products across its showroom estate, and invest further in its design capability.
John Lewis of Hungerford remains confident it will return to profitable growth once these changes are implemented, but said it no longer considers its previous target of growing revenue to GBP10 million with a 5% operating profit by the end of its current financial year to be "a realistic target."
Shares in John Lewis of Hungerford were down 5.5% at 1.30 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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