Liberty of London full-year sales take lockdown hit, but online shines

Luxury British department store Liberty of London has reported a sharp drop in sales for the year ended January 30 2021 as multiple lockdowns took their toll on the business.

The iconic retailer’s sales dropped 40.1 percent to 55.77 million pounds during the year, while it reported an EBITDA loss of 12.59 million pounds compared to a profit of 14.44 million pounds a year earlier.

But the company managed to narrow its pre-tax loss to 1.32 million pounds from 6.69 million pounds a year earlier, while it also posted a net profit of 2.52 million pounds compared to a loss of 8.34 million pounds the previous year.

The flagship department store on London’s Great Marlborough Street was forced to close during three separate government-enforced lockdowns during the year - its doors were shut for a total of six months.

Sales per square foot at the store, including concessions, dropped to 358 pounds compared to 1,309 pounds a year earlier.

Strong growth at Liberty Online
But on a brighter note, Liberty said its online site “showed strong revenue growth” across all categories, particularly in beauty and home. The company said international sales made up a “significant” part of overall sales.

Liberty said it continued to review its “liquidity, financial covenants, cost expenditure, inventory expenditure and capital expenditure to ensure that the group was trading as efficiently as possible, whilst also ensuring investment was made into the Liberty Online business to fuel its growth”.

It said it sees the material impact of the pandemic to be “solely isolated to the flagship store and furthermore the impact of footfall into the store driven by government restrictions”.