French furniture business Roche Bobois reported an uptick in UK sales as well as double-digit growth across the group for the first quarter of 2023.

According to its latest Q1 trading update, total sales were up 12% to €104m versus €92.9m in Q1 2022. All regions for the Roche Bobois brand reported growth, with a particularly strong performance in the United States/Canada region, which grew 24.3% to €38m.

Despite an “unfavourable exchange rate” effect, the UK reported solid revenue of €5.3m against €5.1m in Q1 2022, up 5.3% at current exchange rates.

Roche Bobois in France generated revenue of €30.3m, up 7.6%, which resulted from a steady pace of deliveries in the first months of the year. In the rest of Europe (excluding France and the UK),the Group posted revenue of €18.8m versus €16.0m, representing growth of 17.8% at current exchange rates.

Business activity was particularly brisk in Switzerland (+32.8%) which benefitted from a store opening in Lugano, in October 2022. Spain and Italy achieved respective growth in their revenue of +36.3% and +40.7%, notably benefitting from the relocation, in 2022, of directly operated and owned stores in Madrid (Spain) and Milan (Italy) to more upscale districts.

In Q1 2023, retail sales (across all brands, including franchises) amounted to €176.2m versus €186.6m in Q1 2022, down slightly by 5.6% at current exchange rates.