Boden losses widen but recovery efforts continue

Recovery efforts are continuing at clothing retailer Boden, where losses for 2023 widened on the year prior, jumping from 3.9 million pounds to 9.4 million pounds. Despite this, the company remains optimistic about its return to favour, as sales are expected to welcome a notable uptick for the current financial year.

In the year to December 2023, Boden reported a drop in group sales of 13 percent, amounting to 304.5 million pounds, which already came on the back of significant declines in 2022, according to Drapers. In light of this, the company set about attempting to turnaround its business, shuffling its leadership and moving around its product strategy, yet the results of such changes could not be seen last year.

Sentiments for 2024, however, already look more positive. For the first half of the year, Boden said sales grew 18 percent YoY, driven largely by the womenswear category, for which sales were up 35 percent. The gross margin rose over the period, up seven percentage points, while Boden also returned to profitability.

Speaking to Drapers, which initially reported the news, founder and creative director, Johnnie Boden, said: "I made a series of serious mistakes and felt like a fool. The brilliant team at Boden couldn’t have responded better, bringing Boden back to its very best. Long lead times in our industry always make the process of changing ranges annoyingly slow, which is reflected in last year’s accounts.

"But we’ve truly turned the supertanker now and are back on course. We are seeing some very encouraging improvements in sales and profitability in 2024. I would like to thank the team at Boden and our customers, old and new for their fantastic loyalty and support."