The Very Group announced its annual results amid a challenging retail environment.
- Despite a 1% decline in total group revenue, operating profit before exceptions increased to its highest since FY19.
- Revenue for Very UK and Very Finance showed slight and moderate growth respectively.
- Significant advancements were made in technology with new cloud-based systems and AI-powered features.
- A boost in customer satisfaction was achieved through real-time feedback and enhanced retail experiences.
The Very Group has disclosed its annual results, highlighting the resilience of its performance in a particularly challenging retail climate. In the face of this adversarial environment, the group managed to increase its operating profit before exceptional items by 17.1% to £218.3 million, marking the highest level achieved since the financial year of 2019. This boost is attributed to careful cost management despite a 1% drop in total group revenue, which settled at £2.13 billion.
Amidst these financial figures, Very UK reported a marginal revenue increase, rising from £1.82 billion in FY23 to £1.84 billion, whilst Very Finance experienced a 3.1% upsurge in revenue to £435.0 million from the previous year’s £422.1 million. Notably, Robbie Feather, CEO of The Very Group, asserted that their unique business model, combining multi-category digital retail with flexible payment options, remains crucially relevant for customers.
The company’s commitment to technological advancement continued through its multi-year investment in cloud-based systems. This included progressing towards a new ecommerce platform, Skyscape, incorporating AI-driven product discovery tools into the Very website and app, and launching a new app specifically for Very Ireland. Such technological strides have reportedly improved customer satisfaction, with a record-breaking score in fiscal year 2024, facilitated by a new real-time customer feedback mechanism.
Additionally, the Very Group utilised data analytics to further understand and enhance the customer retail experience, which led to the company’s best net promoter score of 40, an increase of four points from the previous year. Operational efficiency was also showcased in the group’s ability to process 31.9 million items, with the fastest order-to-dispatch time recorded as just 16 minutes.
The Very Group’s resilient retail performance underscores its strategic financial management and customer-focused innovations.
