Annual sales and profit plummet at Taveta Investments

Taveta Investments Ltd., parent of fashion retailers including Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge reported a decline in profit from continuing operations to 71.6 million pounds (96.7 million dollars) against 139.1 million pounds (187.8 million dollars) for the year to August 2017, due to slowdown in sales and an exceptional charge from onerous leases and the revaluation of investment properties, reported WWD quoting a company statement.

Total sales at the Sir Philip Green-owned firm declined 5.3 percent to 1.9 billion pounds (2.5 billion dollars) owing to falling footfall at the brick-and-mortar stores in the UK. Digital sales, however witnessed an improvement of 11.5 percent.

Despite the challenging retail environment, the company plans to invest 81.5 million pounds (110 million dollars) this year in a new distribution centre and development of its online platforms. Work on a new 1 million-net-sq. ft. distribution center in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England is currently underway, which is expected to become operational in 2019.

Picture:Topman website