The boss of country casuals brand Joules said he was encouraged by trading over the summer months as the business fought back from the first lockdown.
But he said there were still big doubts about how the peak Christmas trading period would pan out amid growing concerns over the pandemic.
Chief executive Nick Jones commented ahead of the group’s AGM today, as new figures showed the business turned over £39.6 million in the three months to June 30, ahead of expectations.
The lifestyle clothing and homewares brand, which is based in Market Harborough, saw online sales rise 63 per cent year-on-year for the period.
However total revenues were down 18 per cent as a result of its own stores – and shops where it has concessions – being closed for much of the period.
Shares in the business were up 6 per cent at 97p today.
Mr Jones said: “We are encouraged by the group’s performance in the first quarter of the financial year with sales ahead of our expectations.
“This is testament to the flexibility of the Joules model and the increasing strength, relevance and awareness of the Joules brand.
“The group’s strong e-commerce performance demonstrates the appeal of Joules as well as our growing customer base and we continue to be very encouraged by the performance of our Friends of Joules digital marketplace.
“In addition, we have been pleased with the performance of our stores since re-opening with higher levels of conversion when compared to pre-lockdown and steadily improving footfall trends.
“As with all consumer-facing businesses we face challenging trading conditions and unprecedented levels of uncertainty over the coming months and into the peak Christmas trading season.
“Against this backdrop we remain cautious on the future trading outlook and will continue to tightly manage costs and conserve cash.
“Notwithstanding this, we remain confident that - underpinned by the strength and relevance of our brand - Joules remains well positioned to continue to adapt to changing consumer behaviours.”
Joules’ 128 UK and Ireland stores started reopening on June 15 and all were open by early August.
Since then they had performed well, just 10 per cent down on the comparable prior year period, partly due to pent-up demand and strong promotions.
However, for the total three month period store sales declined by 49 per cent.
A trading statement said: “As a result of the group’s encouraging trading as well as management’s continued tight control of costs, Joules had net cash of £8.5 million at the end of the period, which was significantly ahead of the board’s expectations and up from the year end position of £4.5 million.
“The group has liquidity headroom of £57 million and is therefore well positioned to manage potentially challenging trading conditions over the coming months.”
