Joules reports 18.4 percent revenue growth in FY18

Joules Group revenue increased by 18.4 percent or 18.8 percent on constant currency to 185.9 million pounds (244.7 million dollars), with retail revenue increasing by 15.9 percent to 129.7 million pounds (170.7 million dollars) and wholesale revenue increasing by 24.1 percent or 25.8 percent on constant currency to 55.5 million pounds. Underlying PBT was 13 million pounds (17 million dollars) for the 52 weeks to 27 May 2018, an increase of 28.5 percent on the prior period, while statutory PBT including share-based compensation and exceptional IPO transaction costs was 11.2 million pounds (14.7 million dollars), an increase of 25.6 percent.

Commenting on the company’s results, Colin Porter, Joules’ Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement: “It has been another strong year of growth for the Joules brand, with our continued expansion within the UK and international markets enabling the Group to a profit performance ahead of initial expectations. We have made excellent progress against our strategy of expanding the brand both at home and abroad, and the Board remains confident that this momentum will continue in FY19.”

Financial highlights of Joules’ full year performance

Sales in international markets, which are predominantly wholesale, increased by 35.7 percent or 40.4 percent on a constant currency and now represent 13.1 percent of Group revenues. Retail revenue, which includes stores and concessions, e-commerce and shows, continued to increase and was up by 15.9 percent during the year to 129.7 million pounds (170.7 million dollars) Store revenue at 75 million pounds (98.7 million dollars) increased by 9.8 percent in the year.

During the year, Joules opened 17 new stores and closed two stores, resulting in an increase in owned store numbers from 108 to 123. The company also relocated six stores during the year and had three franchise stores at the end of FY18.

E-commerce revenue at 49.8 million pounds (65.5 million dollars) increased by 28 percent and represented 38.4 percent of total retail revenue. Though a relatively small contribution to Group revenue, revenue from licensing activity, the company added, increased by 81.7 percent in the year to 0.7 million pounds (0.9 million dollars).

Gross margin at 55.7 percent was 25 basis points higher than the prior year and the retail segment gross margin improved by 20 basis points. The company’s underlying EBITDA increased by 24.4 percent to 21.1 million pounds (27.7 million dollars) and the underlying EBITDA margin increased by 55 basis points to 11.3 percent. Statutory basic earnings per share for the period were 9.9 pence per share against 7.3 pence per share last year, while statutory diluted earnings per share for the period were 9.7 pence per share compared to 7.2 pence per share in 2017. On an underlying, pro forma basis the FY18 basic earnings per share were 11.8 pence compared to 9.2 pence in the previous year.

The company said that its board is recommending a final dividend of 1.3 pence per share in respect of FY18 compared to 1.2 pence per share declared last year. This brings the total dividend for FY18 to 2 pence per share against 1.8 pence per share in the previous year.

Picture crdit:Joules via Hudson Sandler