Recession takes the shine off Beaverbrooks’ figures

BEAVERBROOKS, the North West jewellery retailer, saw the recession hit sales last year – and it expects the tough conditions to continue.

The St Annes-on-Sea company, which has 65 shops nationally and is owned by the Adlestone family, saw sales and profits slip in the year to the end of February.

According to newly-filed accounts turnover was down 1.3% to £86.9m while underlying operating profit, before exceptionals, fell by £400,000 to £1.2m. This contrasts with sales and profit growth in the year to February 2011.

In the accounts it said it had continued to invest in its website, “which has become an increasingly important part of the company’s activities”.

Beaverbrooks, which is consistently ranked among the best places to work and routinely donates large sums to charity, finished the year with a pre-tax loss of £1.7m because it commited £3m to its own charitable trust.

In their report the directors said: “In common with many other retailers there is still a great deal of uncertainty concerning both consumer confidence and the rate of recovery of the UK economy in the forthcoming year and the directors are of the opinion that the next financial year will again be very challenging.

“The company maintains its investment in infrastructure with the continuing refurbishment of retail stores where considered necessary. The directors believe that the business is still well-placed to make the most of any opportunities that arise, despite the challenges envisaged.”

During the year the company donated £3.1m to charity, up from £434,907 last time. Some £3m of this went to the firm’s own charity, The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust.

Dividends totalled £264,000 for the year, while shareholders’ funds stand at £58.2m. The firm employed 771 people during the period.