Superdrug’s pre-tax profits shot up by 71.7% to £77.8m in 2022, with sales boosted by improved footfall, own brand launches and a strong Christmas period.
Sales rose 17% to £1,367m, helped by online volumes remaining well above pre-pandemic levels, according to a full-year trading update from the retailer.
Operating profit climbed 48% to £59.6m while operating margin rose from 5.1% to 6.5%.
The health and beauty retailer invested in 12 new stores during the period, leaving the UK & Ireland estate standing at 789, while pursuing an omnichannel ‘offline plus online’ strategy. It plans to invest in a further 25 new stores throughout 2023.
Superdrug launched a third-party online marketplace in November 2022, enabling hundreds of brands to sell thousands of new products on its website in the run-up to Christmas.
Meanwhile, the proportion of company sales made up of own label grew, Superdrug said, boosted by new launches such as its Studio London makeup range.
Sales to its Health & Beautycard loyalty scheme members also increased, the retailer said, boosted by the introductions of ‘Members Only Pricing’ in August. The number of registered members stood at 15.7 million at the period end.
Superdrug also enlisted food blogger and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe to promote its value credentials in May last year, as it froze prices of 130 ‘everyday essential’ own label lines across personal care, beauty and healthcare.
“We remained committed to supporting customers through the cost of living crisis, working with Jack Monroe and becoming the first health & beauty retailer to introduce price freezes on essential products, ensuring we brought best-in-class health and beauty at competitive prices, the success of which we see reflected in the growth of our own brand offering and the great take-up of Members Only pricing,” said Superdrug CEO Peter Macnab.
He added: “Christmas 2022 was a particularly positive trading period for Superdrug and we have certainly carried this momentum into 2023, with customer footfall continuing to increase and all of our categories performing well, particularly cosmetics, which had a turbulent few years throughout the pandemic.”
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