The National Trust raised an additional £3m from trading last year despite a small dip in visitor numbers.

The heritage charity’s trading arm, National Trust Enterprises, which makes money via gift sales, commercial partnerships, the National Trust raffle and other commercial activities like site rental last year made a profit of £9.6m, up from £6.5m in 2012. In total turnover increased from £56.6m to £59.2m for the year ending 28 February 2013.

Retail was the poorest performing area for the Trust’s wholly-owned trading arm, with sales coming in nearly £3m below budget and fell short last year’s performance. The Trust has been reducing its High Street shop presence, dropping shop numbers from 13 to 11, and intends to continue to shut shops over the year.

The organisation’s annual accounts said that it expected visitor numbers to return to previous strength, but that this would be contingent on a number of variables, including the great British weather, and on the popularity of the Trust’s new acquisitions, such as the Giant’s Causeway.

“The state of the economy remains a concern and there is limited opportunity to revise the product range in the short time to better reflect the special significant of Trust properties,” the report reads.

It was the corporate partnership arena that propelled the trading arm’s fortunes, with a partnership with RBS gaining the National Trust £4.1m.

Income from the National Trust raffle was down slightly, from £1.7m to £1.3m, while revenue from events and functions was more or less steady, increasing from £4.8m to £5m.

The National Trust more generally aims to increase its membership to five million by 2020.