TIDMJOUL
RNS Number : 3692Z
Joules Group plc
10 January 2020
10 January 2020
Joules Group plc
('Joules' or the 'Group')
Trading Update
Joules, the premium British lifestyle brand, today updates on
the Christmas trading performance of its retail business for the
seven-week period to 5 January 2020 (the "Period"), as well as on
its outlook for the financial year ending 31 May 2020.
Trading update
As confirmed in the Group's Pre-Close Trading Update dated 5
December 2019, the Group performed in line with the Board's
expectations during the first half of the financial year and
delivered a strong sales performance over the Black Friday trading
period.
However, retail sales(1) over the seven-week period as a whole
were significantly behind expectations and decreased by 4.5%
against the prior year (FY19 comparative period: +11.7%). This was
a result of disappointing online sales performance due to an
internally generated stock availability issue through the important
end of season sale event, the cause of which has now been
addressed. Encouragingly, traffic to the Group's website grew by
8%, however conversion was significantly down due to the stock
availability issue.
The Group's other retail channels, including stores and
third-party concessions, where the Group had good stock
availability, performed in line with expectations.
Supply chain update
To support further growth of the brand, the Group has taken
strategic decisions in relation to its supply chain operations:
establishing an outsourcing partnership with a leading logistics
provider to operate and enhance the Group's UK logistics operation
and also transitioning our US distribution centre to a new partner.
These initiatives will incur incremental non-recurring costs during
the transition phase but are expected to deliver significant cost
benefits from the end of FY21 onwards.
The Group also expects second half cost headwinds as a result of
US-China tariffs, which it expects to continue into next year.
Outlook
Taking the above into account, the Board anticipates that FY20
Underlying PBT(2) will be significantly below market
expectations(3).
Nick Jones, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We are disappointed with our inability to fully satisfy our
customers' demand through our online channel during the important
Christmas sale period. We have identified the root cause of this
one-off issue and have taken steps to prevent its reoccurrence.
Demand for the Joules brand and its unique products remains
strong, with continued growth in total customer numbers and website
traffic as well as robust results in our stores and partner retail
channels.
We remain focussed on continuing to expand the Joules brand and
are making significant enhancements to our supply chain operations
in the UK and US to deliver both future capacity growth and
efficiency."
Joules will announce its Interim Results on Tuesday 21 January
2020.
(1) Retail sales including VAT and returns received, or
anticipated, from sales in the Period. Retail sales in this
statement include Stores and E-commerce channels, both owned and
concessions, but exclude the Shows channel
(2)Underlying PBT before share-based payments, exceptional items
and impact of IFRS 16
(3)Company compiled consensus of GBP16.7 million
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
and Joint Broker 8900
George Sellar
Andrew Clark
Liberum Capital Limited, Joint Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100
2000
John Fishley
Edward Thomas
This announcement contains inside information within the meaning
of the Market Abuse Regulation. The person responsible for
arranging release of this announcement on behalf of Joules is Marc
Dench, Chief Financial Officer.
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, as well as ever-growing
homeware, eyewear and licensed product collections.
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.
During 2019 the brand celebrated its 30(th) birthday, marking
three decades of Joules delivering fun, quality clothing for
families and friends to make lasting memories together.
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
124* 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
-- Nick Jones joined the business as CEO in October 2019, whilst
Tom Joule continues to focus on the creative side of the business
in his capacity as Chief Brand Officer
-- Joules' performance has been recognised through a number of awards including:
-- Mainstream Brand of the Year - Drapers Awards 2019, 2017 and 2016
-- Best Licensed Fashion or Talent Brand Award - Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2019
-- Best Licensed Gifting Product Award - Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Award 2019
-- The Best Fashion Retailer (Mark of Excellence) - Retail Week Awards 2019 and 2018
-- Fashion Retail Business of the Year (between GBP101m-GBP500m
turnover) - Drapers Awards 2018 and 2017
*As at 24 November 2019, excluding concessions and franchises
(33 concessions and 3 franchise stores)
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END
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