Belstaff narrows losses as sales bounce back

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 10, 2023

Turnover at luxury brand Belstaff International rose a healthy 16.6% in the year, to 31 December 2021, hitting £50.2 million. That was clearly a recovery from the first pandemic year (2020), although the gross margin percentage remained all-but-flat in the latest period, edging up from 17.3% by a whisker to 17.4%. 

However, while the cost of sales also jumped, the overall higher sales drove gross profit upwards, reaching £8.7 million, compared to £7.4 million in the previous year. But the company still made an operating loss – albeit a smaller one – with a 78% improvement to a loss of £4.5 million from a negative £20.4 million in the previous period. 

The pre-tax loss and the net loss for the year both came in at £16.6 million, which was better than the equivalent loss of £31.1 million a year earlier.

The company said that its objective is to grow both revenue and profitability and to reduce group operating costs. As part of this, its retail network continues to be “refined as we search for new opportunities in brand-appropriate locations that are commercially sized and at realistic rental levels”. 

In addition, the wholesale customer portfolio is constantly monitored for strong brand partnerships that can deliver a consistent image of the brand, raise market awareness, and maximise returns.

It's also continuing to work on its market share by focusing on the brand image, history, and heritage, by reshaping the retail network and developing products supported by the introduction of new categories and technical fabrics. 

But all this continued to be hampered by the pandemic during the year in question, although it said that it started to see a return to a more normal situation post-Covid at the end of the financial year. The first months of the year had been marked in the UK by continued lockdowns and store closures, and it was impacted in its overseas territories as well. 

And while the company didn't give any updates on what happened in 2022, it did say that following a business reorganisation of the brand’s group of companies, Belstaff International planned to purchase the majority of the inventory held in Italy from its sister company Belstaff SRL by the end of the year for €7.9 million. As a result of this reorganisation, the London-based teams increased to incorporate group finance and logistics that had previously been based in Italy.