An upswing in big ticket items and supporting installation services helped Homebase to a 16% increase in annual profits.
Parent Home Retail Group, which also owns Argos, said Homebase sales dipped 1.4% to £1.55bn for the year to February, while profit rose to £47.6m from £41.2m. Improvements were made in cost productivity and stock management.
“Big ticket sales were ahead with growth in bathrooms and bedrooms,” the company said. “Sales for remaing categories were marginally down,” the company said.
Analysts said the figures showed a trend toward home improvement rather than house moving.
The number of stores was down slightly at 341.
