Sales passed the £1bn mark at Matalan and its losses were slashed during its latest financial year, new accounts have revealed.
The Liverpool-headquartered retailer has posted a revenue of just over £1bn for the 12 months to February 26, 2022, up from the £744.1m it achieved during the prior 12 months.
Its losses before income tax were also cut from £131.5m to £7.7m over the same period.
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For the first 13 weeks of its current financial year, Matalan's revenue increased from £221.8m to £286.5m.
The newly-filed accounts also reveal the number of Matalan's employees decreased from 11,558 to 10,837 during the year.
Executive chairman Steve Johnson said: "The results published today for the year to February 2022 represent a strong recovery during what remained a period of ongoing challenges, including mandated store closures and the continuation of worldwide supply chain disruption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Despite these obstacles, and assisted by the support packages provided by the government, we significantly improved our level of performance and profitability in what remain demanding circumstances for both our sector and consumers more broadly.
"Throughout the last year, our large and spacious out-of-town stores with free parking remained safe and appealing destinations for customers, with the two newly opened stores also performing well.
"Our stores complement what is now a significantly scaled online business, having grown its turnover by over 50% since the beginning of the pandemic, with lots more potential still to realise.
"Together, they provide our customers with convenient and flexible access to the great quality and value ranges that they trust and rely on, now more than ever.
"In parallel to navigating the near term market conditions, we continue to progress our digital transformation programme, building on last year’s first phase of supply chain automation and further developing the planning for the migration of the website onto the THG Ingenuity platform in spring 2023.
"These developments will drive and underpin further growth in our omni-channel proposition as we move the business forwards.
"The spring 2022 market has remained volatile, hampered by widespread inbound supply disruption and weak consumer sentiment in the face of the spike in inflationary pressure on broader consumer spending.
"Against that backdrop we remain well positioned, offering outstanding value to our customers, which has shown through in our sales performance.
"Particularly pleasing has been the positive response to the new in-house developed brands launched in March 2022, Et Vous and Be Beau within womenswear.
"With fantastic prints, great designs, and ensuring that we continue to offer the excellent value we are famous for, they have performed extremely well, both online and in stores.
"Such strong customer reactions give us the confidence that as our stock-flow continues to normalise in the months ahead, we are well placed to capitalise on our market positioning in supporting our customers through these challenging times.
"We are pleased to announce that we have successfully agreed a commitment to refinance the near term July 2022 maturities relating to the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and our Revolving Credit Facility.
"Both of these will be repaid at maturity in July and be replaced by a new £60m loan facility for up to 18 months.
"The 1.5 lien secured notes also due in July will be repaid at maturity from cash reserves.
"This near term refinancing provides the business with a stable platform from which to continue to evaluate options with investors with regards to the January 2023 and January 2024 bond maturities over the coming months.
"Finally, I would like to thank all of our colleagues, suppliers, and partners who continue to work incredibly hard, to serve our customers and deliver on the sizeable opportunities ahead."
