ProCook H1 underlying losses widen

Kitchenware brand ProCook said on Wednesday that underlying losses had widened in the six months ended 13 October, partly due to a contraction in gross margins.

ProCook said overall revenues were up 7.5% in the half at £28.3m, while gross profits grew 5.1% to £18.4m. However, a 160 basis point drop in gross margins to 65.1%, primarily due to investment in improved pricing for customers, weighed on the company's bottom line.

Like-for-like revenues were up 4.2% in the half, while retail revenues were 6.5% higher, having now delivered five consecutive quarters of positive growth, and e-commerce revenues grew by 9.4%, driven by increased conversion following migration to its new website.

However, ProCook still delivered an underlying operating loss of £1.8m for the period, widening from the prior year's £1.5m loss, while underlying pre-tax losses grew to £2.8m from £1.7m and reported pre-tax losses were flat at £3.2m.

ProCook added that in the first eight weeks of H2, which included the all-important Black Friday period and the beginnings of festive trading, total revenues were up 7.5%, with like-for-like revenues moving ahead by 0.9%. However, rretail LFL sales were down 4%, which it said was a result of "weak footfall" during the early weeks of H2 and Downing Street's newest budget announcement.

As of 0940 GMT, ProCook shares had sunk 11.05% to 33.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com