“Because of the actions we’ve already taken and trends we saw at the start of the pandemic, we are not concerned about the impact of further restrictive measures or a full lockdown situation.”
Bird also stressed that the company is optimistic about trading over Black Friday and the Christmas period despite potential disruption as a result of the pandemic.
He said: “Both Christmas and Black Friday have always important for us, particularly in gaining new customers, and Black Friday has been profitable for us historically.
“This year we are expecting both to be bigger than ever before. We think the cause of that will be because Covid is likely to impact people going to the high street and that people will be able get everything in one place from visiting our site, apart from food.”
Growth was driven by surging sales at Very.co.uk, which reported a 10.5% jump in retail sales to £1.23 billion for the period.
Meanwhile, the group said its Littlewoods brand saw sales continue decline, sliding by 8.8% to £460.9 million for the period.
