Boden's full year sales and profit increase

Fashion brand Boden reported group sales increase of 7.4 percent or 11 percent at constant exchange rates to 357.4 million pounds for the year to December 2021.

The company said in a release that pre-tax profit increased to 22.1 million pounds compared to 18.5 million pounds in 2020, driven by sales growth and operational efficiencies despite incremental cost increases associated with Brexit and international freight.

In the current financial year, Boden said, first half sales grew 2 percent on prior year and the business continues to recover well, particularly in the US where sales were up 19 percent or 10 percent at constant exchange rates. Boden plans to focus on womenswear range improvements and growth is producing encouraging results, especially in the US.

Commenting on the company’s performance, Johnnie Boden, founder and creative director, said: “I am delighted that Boden’s womenswear and childrenswear ranges continue to attract increasing numbers of new customers, inspired by a brand that is stylish, exciting and relevant.”

The company’s both womenswear and childrenswear categories performed well especially in the US where sales grew by 20 percent.

The company added that the womenswear market returned to a more normal trading pattern driven by the US recovery. Dresses returned to the top of the bestseller list.

Boden witnessed strong growth in the US with a 47 percent increase in new customers driven by a push on digital customer recruitment.

“These are good results in another challenging year. We have a clear strategy to build our brand digitally and grow our business in the US; our results for 2021 and the first half of this year give us confidence that this strategy will deliver long term profitable growth,” added Glen Senk, the company’s executive chairman.