Bed manufacturer Relyon has reported sales of almost £20m while profit fell into the red.

According to its latest filed accounts for the year ended 30 September 2022, total sales reached £18.6m, which was down from £22.2m, although this was from a 14-month period from 23 July 2020 to 30 September 2021.

UK sales represented £18m of revenues, while EU sales stood at £541,000 with outside the EU sales at £64,000.

Pre-tax profit of £393,000 slipped to a loss of £453,000 with an EBITDA loss of £134,000.

Stated within its report, the company, which also operates the Dunlopillo brand, said: “Following the gradual removal of Covid 19 pandemic restrictions, the start of the 2021/22 reporting period generated healthy demand.

“However, this was not sustained as it was also clear that the impact of inflation and the slowdown of the economy in the latter part of the year dampened consumer confidence. The consequence of this was that total turnover of £18.7m was broadly similar to the comparable 12-month prior year.”

During the period, the company rose prices in line with raw material cost increases, while also investing in plant and equipment, as well as its transport fleet, to the sum of £427,000.

“Volatility in demand was matched by the inconsistency of raw material supply, coupled with the continuation of raw material cost increases on a significant scale,” the company said.

“This necessitated a number of sales price increases to our customers, albeit that timing differences of when these were implemented impacted our gross margins, which dropped slightly compared to the prior year.”