ScS trading in line ahead of key winter period

Furniture and flooring retailer ScS said in an update on Friday that it was trading “resiliently” through what was still a “challenging” period.

The London-listed company said like-for-like order intake had seen an improvement in recent weeks, with trading ahead of the prior year.

Total like-for-like order intake for the 16 weeks ended 19 November was down 9.1%, due to a reduction in orders in the first 10 weeks to 6 October, when the comparative period benefited from strong pent-up demand following the last national lockdown.

The group did, however, report a continued to gain market share over the period.

ScS said its balance sheet remained “strong”, with closing cash at 19 November of £89.7m, and no debt.

“The board is encouraged by the group's recent performance and current trading is in line with its expectations for the full year,” the directors said in their statement.

“The group is preparing for the important winter sales trading period and, as always, its success will be a key factor in the results for the full year.

“The business is planning to approach the winter sales period in a manner consistent with that which has proved successful in prior years.”

ScS said it was “mindful” of the challenges of the current economic climate.

“Trading remains difficult to predict, but we believe our refreshed strategy, strong cost management and robust balance sheet places the group in an excellent financial and operational position.”

At 0838 GMT, shares in ScS Group were up 2.57% at 143.6p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.