Watches of Switzerland sees slight drop in revenue

Revenue at Leicester-based luxury watch retailer Watches of Switzerland fell slightly in its first quarter.

For the 13 weeks to July 30, revenue came in at £382m – down slightly on last year’s £391m, but in line with the company’s full year expectations.

Watches of Switzerland said that demand for luxury watches remains “robust” and continues to exceed supply.

The firm’s US operation saw strong revenue growth of 10% to £163m.

Brian Duffy, CEO, said: “We have delivered a Q1 performance in line with our guidance and expectations, with ongoing strong progress in the US, where we delivered 10% constant currency sales growth, and a performance in the UK and Europe that reflected the unwind of the product intake timing we benefited from in Q4 FY23.

“Q1 saw us make good ongoing progress against our strategic growth priorities, including the opening of our new multi-brand showroom in American Dream, New Jersey, continued refurbishment and enhancement of our Goldsmiths Luxury, Mappin & Webb and Mayors portfolio along with further mono-brand expansions, all of which are trading in line with our expectations since opening. We also successfully launched the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in the US in July 2023. Early performance has been encouraging as clients react positively to the authenticity and guarantee of quality that the Certified Pre-Owned seal represents. We are excited about this opportunity and are on track to launch our UK Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in September 2023.

“Looking ahead, we expect to return to more normalised growth rates in the balance of the financial year. Our full year guidance for another year of strong growth remains unchanged, underpinned by our supply visibility, client Registration of Interest lists and strong pipeline of showroom openings, refurbishment and investment, as luxury watch demand continues to outstrip supply. We look forward to presenting our Long Range Plan update in the Autumn, which will outline our growth ambitions to FY28.”