Holland & Barrett saw losses widen in its full year results, despite an uplift in sales as it pushes ahead with its transformation plans.
The health food retailer saw losses rise to £57m from £44m the year prior for the period ended 30 September, noting this included exceptional items which had been “driven by costs of exceptional stock, write-off, store and warehouse closures” as well as restructuring costs.
Sales rose almost 10% to £590m, which it said reflected an increase in retail footfall and the results of its transformation plan driven by its new product offering.
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The retailer, which unveiled its biggest food transformation in a decade last year, scrapped five sites from its store footprint during the period, but noted its number of UK digital shoppers had nudged up 0.6%.
Looking ahead, Holland & Barrett said its financial position remained strong and as it expects both sales and profit to improve in the future.
The business plans to invest in at least one store a day in its refresh and refurbishment programme across the UK and Ireland over the next two years.
Earlier this month, it launched its partnership with Next to open new “store within a store” concessions over the summer, under part of its £70m investment into retail stores and upgrading the store experience.
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