North East furniture retailer ScS has hailed strong trading in its key winter trading period, after seeing its order book double compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The Sunderland sofa and floorings company, which has a network of 100 stores across the UK, issued a trading update for the 26 weeks ended January 29 2022, saying the group traded well through the important winter sale period.
It said order intake for the first half of the year was in line with the board’s expectations, with one year like-for-like order intake growth of 16.6% and that two year like-for-like order intake is in line with pre-pandemic levels it recorded in the six months to January 25 2020.
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Notably, it said the firm’s order book has grown significantly against previous comparative periods, driven by the ongoing demand as well as supply chain challenges which have extended product lead times.
As of January 29 2022 its order book was double the amount posted in January 2020, to £148m.
The company said: “The group’s online offering and appeal to customers continues to strengthen, with online order growth of 55.8% compared to the equivalent 26 week period to 25 January 2020.
“The group is working closely with suppliers to mitigate the risk of continued supply chain disruption in the second half of the financial year.
“The board is pleased with the group’s bookings performance to date and it remains on track to meet full year expectations.”
ScS expects to announce its interim results on March 22.
Shares rose 2.6% to 226.83p in early trading.
