High street household goods group Blokker Holding posted a loss of €344m last year, almost double the year-earlier loss, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Total sales over the year fell by some €400m to €1.6bn, due to both divestments and ‘weak sales results, the company said. Online sales via the Blokker.nl webshop rose 25% and now account for 15% of total sales.

Blokker Holding last year began a major overhaul of its high street stores because both sales and profits had been under pressure for years. Part of the reorganisation involved the sale of the Leen Bakker and Intertoys chains, which were also part of the holding.

‘The trend fortunately appeared to be gradually broken at the end of the year at Blokker with growth in revenue due to increased footfall and higher conversion rates. These are all cautious signs that things are looking up,’ acting chief executive Michiel Witteveen said in a statement.

‘A transformation of this size requires time, and Blokker Holding expects to end 2018 at a net loss,’ the company said.