Trainer and fashion firm beating high street slump thanks to growth of online business

Profits at newly listed firm Footasylum were up by £8.4m as the company fought back against tough trading conditions on the high street.

The Rochdale fashion and footwear firm has released its first set of results since floating on AIM last year.

Much of the success was down to growth in the firm’s online business.

Revenues were up 33% to £194.8m with strong growth across all channels and product categories.

Online sales were up 41% and now account for 30% of total revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA was up 12% to £12.5m and adjusted profit before tax was up 4% to £8.4m.

Last year Foootasylum opened 10 new stores, refitted two stores and upsized seven stores.

There was continued investment in the footasylum.com website and further investment in other online platforms with the launch of an own brand website, and apps for Footasylum, Kings Will Dream and SEVEN.

Distribution space doubled to 278,000 sq ft, with the opening of a second warehouse facility in Rochdale.

There was investment in a new in-house studio in Manchester for design, photography and videography.

And the workforce grew by 21% to 2,270 employees by the end of February.

Chief executive Clare Nesbitt said: “We are pleased to report a strong performance for the financial year, our first as a quoted company following our successful IPO last November.

“We have delivered broad-based growth across all of our channels and product categories, while also continuing to invest in our infrastructure and talent in order to support further long-term expansion.

“While our core target market of the 16 to 24-year-old consumer has proved to be comparatively resilient in a downturn, our trading since the beginning of the new financial year has undoubtedly been impacted by the widely documented weak consumer sentiment on the high street.

“Despite this, we are confident that continued investment in digital and in our stores will allow the company to deliver strong revenue growth for the full year in line with market expectations.

“This includes increased investment in our consumer offering ahead of our usual peak trading period in the second half and delivering additional store upsizes alongside new store openings.

“However, this will have an associated increase in both expected capital expenditure and property costs for the current year and as a result, we now anticipate that, adjusted EBITDA for FY19 is likely to show more modest growth than in FY18.

“In the longer-term, we remain confident that the company’s differentiated, product-led, multi-channel proposition, combined with strong partnerships with core suppliers, will underpin its continued progress.”