River Island warns of November lockdown impact

River Island has given warning about the impact of the November lockdown on its performance as retail enters the peak Christmas trading period.

The retailer reported a 10% rise in operating profits for the year to 28 December 2019, with a stable turnover of £880 million after the closure of stores in Western Europe, falling slightly from the £920 million reported in 2018.

Will Kernan, River Island CEO, said in a statement: "The latest lockdown comes at the most challenging and disruptive time for retailers, when we would normally expect to deliver our peak trading, and the closure of physical stores will, of course, have an impact on our performance.

"We began 2020 with momentum in both operational change and business performance. Our focus and investment in digital over recent years saw us engage and welcome more new customers to our online channels with positive responses to improved product ranges.

"While the business was robust when the pandemic struck, we acted quickly and decisively to put ourselves in the strongest possible footing to manage through the crisis. The complete closure of our physical stores for 13 weeks created a significant financial impact, but online sales performed well as we welcomed new and existing store customers to our digital channels.

"Today’s retail environment is drastically different to that of 2019, but even before COVID-19, shopping habits and the role of stores were changing quickly. As a result, we had already made important changes to ensure that River Island could hold its own in the face of these challenges. Through these efforts, we maintained stable sales during 2019 and saw continued growth in our online and wholesale channels."