Book and stationery retailer, The Works, has reported a dip in profits.

The discount retailer, which has stores in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud, saw adjusted pre-tax profits fall almost 40% to £10.1m for the year to April 30, despite a rise in sales of 5.8% to £280.1m.

The Works was hit by an additional £5.8m business rates bill as Covid-19 reliefs ended, as reported by Retail Gazette.

Like-for-like store sales, representing 88.8% of total revenue, were up by 7.5%, while online sales fell 15%.

The Works CEO Gavin Peck said the business delivered a 'resilient performance', despite some challenges.

He said the retailer developed its brand and customer proposition over the course of year, ensuring its product range aligned with customer demand. It also improved its store estate during the year.

The Works has taken steps to enhance its online offer and it expects to see the benefits of that from the current financial year onwards.

Trading so far in the current financial year has been in line with expectations - with like-for-like sales increasing by 3.1%.