5th Dec 2018 08:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Joules Group PLC on Wednesday said it expects revenue for the first half of the financial year to climb, despite the "well-documented" challenges of the UK retail sector.
Joules shares were trading up 5.4% at 218.16 pence each Wednesday morning.
For the six months ended November 25, the fashion and lifestyle retailer expects revenue up 18% to GBP113.1 million from GBP96.2 million a year ago.
Retail revenue is expected to jump 21% to GBP79.9 million, helped by strong ecommerce sales, now representing almost 50% of all retail sales.
Wholesale revenue increased 8.0% to GBP32.5 million on the back of "continued strong growth" in the firm's international markets, the US and Germany.
"International sales now represent approximately half of total wholesale sales, reflecting the continued expansion of the Joules brand overseas," the retailer added.
On the back of the revenue increase, Joules said it expects adjusted pretax profit for the half to be "slightly ahead" of its previous views.
Looking ahead, the company expects UK retail conditions to "remain challenging over the near term", affected by continued macroeconomic uncertainty, changing consumer shopping behaviour and a "highly competitive" environment.
With regards to Brexit, the fashion brand said it has put in place contingency plans "to mitigate the expected disruption that could arise in the event of a hard Brexit", including establishing a EU distribution facility and scheduling earlier inbound product deliveries for its Spring/Summer 2019 ranges.
Chief Executive Officer Colin Porter said: "I am delighted to update on what has been another period of strong performance for Joules despite challenging trading conditions. This performance, which is ahead of our initial expectations for the period, is testament to the strength of the Joules brand, the engagement of our loyal customers with our product collections, and our fantastic teams.
"We have an outstanding brand, good momentum and a growing customer base and we look forward to the second half of the financial year with confidence."
Joules expects to report its results for the first half of the year on January 23.
Related Shares:
JOUL.L