Oxfam GB’s income passed £400m for the first time since 2019 after a more than £20m increase in funds from major appeals.
The charity’s latest accounts, for the year to the end of March, show income rose to £400.6m, up from £373m in the previous 12 months.
The charity said restricted income, which included £11.6m raised for people affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and almost £24m to support people in Ukraine after the invasion, was up by £21.4m year on year to £229.2m.
The charity’s income hit a high of £434.1m in 2018/19.
Income from Oxfam’s network of 553 charity shops rose by £8.1m to £96.8m over the course of the year as the recovery from the Covid pandemic continued.
But the charity’s trading division contributed a net £16m, down by £5.5m in the previous year, which was mainly down to a steep rise in energy bills.
The report shows trading costs totalled £82m, up from £68.5m in 2021/22.
Income from donations and legacies rose by £5.2m to £143.1m, although this included a £500,000 fall in regular giving to £41.9m.
Total expenditure was £360.4m, up from £329.1m in the previous year.
The report says the charity supported 9.8 million people over the course of the year, an increase of 1.8 million on the previous 12 months.
Oxfam GB investigated 41 safeguarding cases over the course of the year, of which 21 were upheld or partially upheld.
This resulted in 11 dismissals and four formal warnings, the report says.
The charity said it received 180 new reports of fraud, theft and corruption, which resulted in verified losses of about £30,000 and unverified losses of £185,000. It said the majority of the incidents were in its procurement activities.
Danny Sriskandarajah, outgoing chief executive of Oxfam GB, said: “Despite the challenge of rising costs, we’ve seen a strong performance across our shops and a rise in overall income.
“This has enabled us to work with local partners and communities to save or improve millions of lives, while at the same time maintaining the financial resilience of our organisation.
“It is important that we maintain strong reserves to ensure that Oxfam can weather future financial shocks and that along with our partners can continue to make a positive impact in the years to come.”
The report notes that the charity is in a pay dispute with about 500 employees represented by the union Unite.
They had voted to take 17 days of strike action this month but some of that had been suspended after a new pay deal was considered.
“At the time of writing we are hopeful of reaching a settlement to end the dispute before the end of the calendar year,” the report says.
“There is a risk of continued disruption into the new year, but trustees are satisfied that the general reserve levels are adequate to deal with the effects of the potential strike action.”