Profits plunged by nearly a quarter at upmarket lingerie label Agent Provocateur last year despite a surge in sales. Sales rose 16% to £61.7m in the year to 28 March 2015 as the company opened 12 new boutiques and three franchise stores around the world, including in China, the US and France. But pretax profits slumped nearly 26% to £4.6m as the company spent £727,000 on fees related to a strategic review and wrote down the value of some assets.
Agent Provocateur’s private equity owner, 3i, brought in consultants last year to help it consider a sale of the business, but was advised by Goldman Sachs to hold on to the firm that it bought for £60m in 2007.
In accounts filed at Companies House earlier this week, Agent Provocateur said it had enjoyed a “very successful” year as sales at established stores rose by 4% and online sales by 30%. The company said underlying profits, which exclude one-off costs and other items including interest charges, were up 5% to £10.1m.
A new lower priced range, L’Agent, designed with actress Penelope Cruz and her sister Monica, increased sales by a third as it opened boutiques in New York, London, Montreal and Los Angeles, as well as an online store.
Agent Provocateur was founded by Joe Corré, the son of designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, with his former wife Serena Rees in 1994. The business stated its mission as “stimulating, enchanting and arousing” customers. Rees left at the time of the sale to 3i and Corré stepped down in 2009. He still holds a minority stake in the company.
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