Lush has reported widening losses and said it anticipates passing the tax from tariffs on to American shoppers.
The beauty retailer filed new accounts with Companies House detailing that losses before tax had grown from £28.1m in 2023 to £42.6m in the year to June 30, 2024.
Group turnover declined from £708.1m to £674.5m during this period, while group EBITDA saw a loss of £9.8m.
It saw sales grow 5.7% in the first quarter, helped by SpongeBob and Barbie products, but the second quarter saw mixed results in all markets.
In December, sales declined 2.2% but there were record-breaking sales days for nearly 100 stores in five countries over the financial year.
The group said it would be “looking for opportunities to build cash”, closed its Dusseldorf manufacturing site and consolidated North American production into its Toronto site.
Lush said: “If, as presently anticipated, a 25% tariff is introduced, we anticipate passing this tax directly to our American customers.”
Across markets, Japan sales grew 8%, UK sales rose 1%, Europe’s total sales increased 2% and North America saw a 4% sales decline.
Lush said its directors believe there is likely to be growth of around 7% on a base-case scenario from the financial year 2024 to 2025.
It anticipated a 3% growth in the financial year 2026 due to “continued brand collaborations, new product launches, development of digital features and customer incentive schemes and continued physical retail investment”.
In the accounts, Lush said: “We are anticipating new franchises in Italy and France and we are working with new partners in India and Indonesia, due to open in 2026.
“We are targeting around 30 outlets in these regions over the next decade, as well as more imminent expansion in Turkey, and smaller markets such as Panama and Cyprus.”
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