Footasylum suffers £4m loss as carnage on high street continues
Sports retailer Footasylum slumped to losses of £4m in the first six months of the year.
The Rochdale firm has been hit by the slump on the high street and delays in opening of new stores.
Revenues at Footasylum were up 19% to £98.6m with growth across all channels and major product categories.
Store revenues were up 12% to £66.3m despite the impact challenging trading conditions and delays in store openings and upsizes.
Online sales up 29% to £30.2m now accounting for 31% of total revenue and wholesale was up 200% to £2.1m.
Adjusted loss before tax was £4.0m compare with a profit £2.3m in the first half of last year.
In the first half of the year the firm opened one new store, bringing the total store estate to 66, with plans well advanced to open a further five stores and upsize a total of five stores across the financial year.
The company said it has significantly improved the online experience for customers with further investment in the footasylum.com website and the relaunch of its app.
Chairman Barry Bown said: “This has been a difficult trading period for Footasylum as we have contended with tough conditions on the high street and some delays in our programme of new store openings and upsizes ahead of the peak trading period.
“While we are pleased to be reporting good top line growth, and a particularly strong year-on-year revenue performance in both online and wholesale, our profitability has been impacted both by a lower overall gross margin from higher clearance activity in stores, as well as the extensive investments that are being made to position the company for future growth.
“We are encouraged by the early results and trends that we are seeing from our investments in key areas such as digital and marketing, and see substantial opportunity for further progress across these and other parts of our operations.
“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 our future progress.”
