Contemporary Cornish clothing brand, Seasalt, is pleased to release its audited financial statements for the year ending January 2024. This period reflects an impressive performance, with an operating profit of £7.9m for the Group, representing a 146% increase (£4.7m) on the previous year.
Seasalt has had an excellent year, with revenues up 12% year on year. Despite facing ongoing external challenges and economic uncertainty, the Group has performed beyond expectation, identifying and maximising opportunity in the market to arrive at a strong set of results for the period in review.
Highlights include the following;
- The Group has had another record-breaking year in bricks and mortar stores, with all stores forging ahead versus the previous year again, achieving a 10% increase across the portfolio. Customers also spent significantly more per visit. This performance belies the pressures that have been experienced more broadly in the Retail sector and the business landscape recently.
- The Group continued to open new Seasalt stores in the UK and Ireland throughout 2023, including Meadowhall, Aberdeen, Trentham, Malvern, a pop-up store in Plymouth and a third Irish store in Kenmare. This takes the total number to 73, all of which remain profitable. Full-price stores are a strong brand awareness driver for Seasalt and this growth in awareness further supports the online business too.
- Significant progress was also made in growing relationships with strategic partners Marks & Spencer, Next and Zalando, amongst others, including a combination of online only and physical stores. Partner activities now account for approximately 13% of Group revenues, an increase of 4% on the prior year.
• There has been heavy investment in technology over the year, including undertaking a process to implement a new ERP solution, along with a major transformation of the data platform. These improvements are set to deliver efficiencies and increased productivity across the business, providing customers with a seamless unified retail experience wherever they choose to shop with the brand.
Paul Hayes, chief executive officer, Seasalt Cornwall, says: “Sales have been very strong throughout the trading period in review, and we’re delighted to build on the ongoing success of recent years, in the face of obvious external challenges and economic uncertainty. In fact, over the last five years, the Group has more than doubled its turnover to £132.6m. Last year was a tough year for retail businesses, but we weathered the impact to evidence record-breaking revenue growth for the business in these statutory accounts. We’ve now got our focus firmly set on the future as the year ahead is a significant one for us, with the launch of our first Seasalt stores in North America and continued expansion in our partner channels, at home and internationally. We have every confidence that we will realise our ambitious growth plans if not exceed expectations.”
