TIDMJOUL
RNS Number : 3130E
Joules Group plc
05 November 2020
5 November 2020
Joules Group plc
('Joules' or the 'Group')
Business and trading update
Joules, the premium British lifestyle brand, provides a business
update in light of the latest UK Government restrictions, as well
as an update on trading in the financial year to date (the first 22
weeks of its financial year to 31 May 2021 or the "Period").
Business update
In line with the latest UK Government restrictions on
non-essential retail, the Group's retail stores in England are now
closed during the four-week national lockdown until 2(nd) December
2020. The Group intends to place all store colleagues in England on
furlough during this period of closure.
The Group currently anticipates that its stores in Wales will
re-open on 9 November 2020 following a two-week lockdown. Joules
stores across Scotland and Northern Ireland remain open.
The Board believes that Joules remains well positioned to
satisfy higher anticipated online demand over the forthcoming peak
trading periods, having completed several capacity and efficiency
enhancements within the Group's UK warehouse during 2020.
Current trading
The encouraging trends reported in the Group's trading update on
23 September 2020 have continued, with sales for the Period
remaining ahead of the Board's expectations. This has been driven
by strong year-on-year e-commerce growth of 35%, with e-commerce
revenue accounting for 70% of the Group's retail sales in the
Period. The Group's stores performed ahead of the Board's
expectations during the Period, with sales since the re-opening of
Joules stores in July down by 18% year-on-year. The Group's
wholesale and international sales have performed in line with
expectations over this Period.
The Group's active customer base has now grown to 1.5 million,
reflecting the strength of the Joules brand. 'New to brand'
customer growth has been particularly strong in recent months,
benefitting from: focused digital marketing investment; the
positive impact of the Friends of Joules digital marketplace; and
the desirable lifestyle locations of many of the Group's
stores.
The Group's balance sheet remains strong with net cash of GBP9.4
million and liquidity headroom of GBP57 million at 1 November
2020.
As a result of Joules' continued momentum, and notwithstanding
the significant levels of uncertainty as the Group enters the
critical peak trading season, the Board believes that Joules
remains on track to deliver its expectations for the FY21 financial
year.
Nick Jones, CEO of Joules, commented:
"Joules has continued to trade well with sales in the financial
year to date ahead of the Board's expectations. We have seen strong
growth in our customer base during recent months, benefiting from
our focus on digital marketing, the attractive locations of our
stores and the increasingly broad customer offer through our
Friends of Joules digital marketplace.
As we enter the peak trading season, the retail sector in
England faces the challenge of having to close non-essential stores
for the next four weeks. Despite this difficult backdrop, Joules
has a very strong brand and a flexible business model, which has
underpinned the Group's robust performance to date during Covid-19.
In addition, we are well positioned from an operations and
financial perspective, having built on the experience and lessons
from the Spring lockdown.
Our AW20 collections have been well received by customers and
our Friends of Joules digital marketplace continues to deliver
growth ahead of our expectations. As a result, we enter the peak
trading period in a strong position. Our e-commerce business now
represents 70% of our retail sales and we have made significant
investments in capacity to ensure that we can continue to drive and
satisfy demand through this increasingly important channel as we
adapt to changing consumer behaviours.
I would again like to thank all of Joules stakeholders, but
particularly our colleagues, for their continued flexibility,
loyalty and dedication through this very challenging period ."
- E nds -
Enquiries:
Joules Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 1858 435 255
Nick Jones, CEO
Marc Dench, CFO
Hudson Sandler (Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
Alex Brennan
Lucy Wollam
Peel Hunt LLP, Nominated Advisor Tel: +44 (0) 20 7418 8900
and Joint Broker
George Sellar
Andrew Clark
Liberum Capital Limited, Joint Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
John Fishley
Edward Thomas
Joules - a premium lifestyle brand with an authentic British
heritage
Established in Britain by Tom Joule three decades ago, Joules is
a premium lifestyle brand with an authentic heritage.
The Joules story began in 1989, when Tom Joule started selling
clothing on a stand at a country show in Leicestershire. Today, it
is a true multi-channel lifestyle brand; its products are available
through its e-commerce websites, retail stores, at rural shows and
events and wholesale channels both in the UK and
internationally.
Joules carefully designs and sells clothing, footwear and
accessories for women, men and children. The business also sells
ever-growing collections of homeware, eyewear and lifestyle product
ranges through both its licensing partnerships and 'Friends of
Joules', the brand's online marketplace that brings together
hundreds of creative businesses to give customers everything they
could ever need for a contemporary country lifestyle.
The brand's values of quality, Britishness, family and humour,
coupled with its unique use of colour and print set Joules apart.
This approach, along with an unwavering attention to detail and
drive to surprise and delight its customers with unexpected
details, has been central to the brand's success and remains at the
heart of everything Joules creates.
www.joules.com
www.joulesgroup.com
Joules Fast Facts
-- Joules is an international brand, available in the UK, USA,
Germany and other international markets
-- Joules has a significant online business, operates across
128* stores in the UK and ROI across a range of location types and
has a well-established wholesale business with over 2,000 stockists
worldwide
-- Joules' talented in-house print design team lovingly
hand-draw all the prints and unexpected unique details you see
within its collections each season
-- Joules is proud of its British heritage and still has strong
roots in Market Harborough, the site of its first shop and head
office - since day one
-- Joules' performance has been recognised through a number of awards including:
o Mainstream Brand of the Year - Drapers Awards 2019, 2017 and
2016
o Best Licensed Fashion or Talent Brand Award - Brand &
Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2019
o Best Licensed Gifting Product Award - Brand & Lifestyle
Licensing Award 2019
o The Best Fashion Retailer (Mark of Excellence) - Retail Week
Awards 2019 and 2018
o Fashion Retail Business of the Year (between GBP101m-GBP500m
turnover) - Drapers Awards 2018 and 2017
*As at 31 May 2020, excluding concessions and franchises (33
concessions and 3 franchise stores)
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END
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November 05, 2020 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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