Seasalt bucks high street woes with sales and profits increase

Cornish fashion brand, Seasalt, has recorded record turnover and improved margins, signalling the “continuing growth momentum in the business”.

Turnover was up 23% on the previous year, at £51m, and is the ninth consecutive year of 20% increases in year-on-year sales growth, reflecting “continued rising demand” for the brand across online, in-store and wholesale channels.

Gross margin also improved significantly to 55% compared to 51% last year, which the group said “bucks the high street trend” of a full-price trading stance and strong demand from customers.

Underlying operating profit was up 66% on the prior year and EBITDA increased from 7% of sales to 8.7%. Reported profit before tax (PBT) was impacted by accounting rules which required recognition of unrealised fair value adjustments associated with foreign exchange contracts put in place to cover planned stock purchases.

CEO Paul Hayes said: “These are again a very good set of results. They clearly indicate strong growth momentum within the business founded on the quality and design of our products and the brand experience we offer our Seasalt customers across all channels. These figures portray the kind of growth profile that, post the year end, attracted the Business Growth Fund to invest in our business.”

CFO Malcolm Macdonald added: “In a challenging retail environment, Seasalt achieved another great set of results. We have been rewarded for our full-price trading strategy and we are continuing to invest in new technology, infrastructure and people to support our growth over the next year, and beyond.

“Looking into the current year, we are experiencing further growth in like for like sales, gross margins and fundamental profitability.”