Joules profits surge in first full year since IPO

The premium fashion retailer said underlying pre-tax profit in the 52 weeks to May 28 surged 34% to £10.1m.

Underlying EBITDA jumped 25.3% during the same period.

Joules, which revealed earlier this month that it had acquired a new head office, enjoyed a 19.6% uplift in sales across the group to £157m, as the business hailed “strong brand momentum” across channels and international markets.

Retail sales increased 19.4%, as bricks and clicks both gained traction.

Joules ecommerce sales spiked 29.4% during the year, with online sales now accounting for more than a third of its total retail sales.

Store sales rose 17.5%, buoyed by 11 net new store openings across the year.

Sales were also boosted by 14% growth in the number of active customers to 907,000.

Joules gained further traction overseas, with wholesale revenues to third-party retailers accelerating 20.3% year-on-year, or 17.6% in constant currencies.

The retailer’s total international revenue surged 36.2% and now accounts for 11.5% of group revenue.

‘Strong progress’

Joules boss Colin Porter hailed a “very exciting year” for the business as it “continued to expand and develop across distribution channels and product categories both in the UK and internationally.”

He added: “The strong progress delivered during the year was again underpinned by the group’s steadfast focus on its growing and loyal customer base, product quality and delivering engaging experiences across all channels.”

Porter said he was “confident” that Joules could continue its momentum into 2017/18 despite an “uncertain macro-economic outlook.”

Joules said it had seen “good growth” in the first few weeks of its current financial year and hailed “positive feedback” from wholesale customers to its spring/summer 2018 ranges.