Joules credits ecommerce for full-year growth
Joules this week said that ecommerce was a key driver behind a double digit rise in retail sales in its latest financial year.
The multichannel brand, a Top150 retailer in IRUK Top500 research, said in a trading update that revenue rose to £185.9m in the year to May 27, 18.4% up on the same time last year. Revenue from retail was up by 15.9%, and wholesale by 24%, or 25.7% on a constant currency basis. The retail performance, it said, “was driven by a very good ecommerce sales performance, as well as continued growth across the group’s UK and ROI (Republic of Ireland) store estate, which benefited from 15 net new stores during the year”. It said sales increased thanks to the increased popularity of the Joules brand and products among a growing customer base.
Wholesale increases came in forward orders for spring and summer clothing from within the UK and from international wholesale customers. Profits, said the company, were expected to be slightly ahead of analyst expectations. This, it said, was a result of maintaining promotional discipline and achieving better international wholesale profit margins after taking its US wholesale business in-house.
Chief executive Colin Porter said: “This performance is testament to the strength and appeal of the Joules brand and our distinctive products which continue to resonate with our growing and highly engaged customer base. Our multichannel approach and ‘buy now, wear now’ product proposition has enabled the group to deliver a performance ahead of our initial expectations, despite the widely reported challenges in the sector. We have made excellent progress against our strategy of further developing the brand in the UK and target international markets and we remain confident of continued growth and expansion of the Joules brand.”
As of May 2018, Joules traded from 123 stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as online, via wholesale and through outlets including rural shows.
Games Workshop staff share bonus
Staff at Top350 retailer Games Workshop have shared a £5m bonus after a year in which full-year sales came in at an estimated £219m, the retailer said in a trading statement today.
The retailer said it expected pre-tax profits in the 53 weeks to June 3 to come in at at least £74m. Royalties from licensing will come in at around £10m.
Last year it reported sales of £158.1m, 34% up on the previous year,, and pre-tax profits of £38.4m, 126% up on the previous year.
Games Workshop promotes its own hobby: collecting, modelling, painting and gaming with its model soldiers. In recent years, faster growth has come thanks to the online channel. In its half-year results, Games Workshop said that its growth had come as the retailer focused on talking to customers in its global community, via social media and and new content added to its warhammer-community.com website daily.
