Jigsaw falls into the red amid challenging backdrop

British retailer Jigsaw has reported a loss for the financial year to January 27, 2024, after a number of its investments failed to generate a return “to the levels expected”.

The company, which filed its annual report via Companies House, said that efforts to bolster brand marketing and staff had not borne fruit, resulting in a pre-tax loss of 3.6 million pounds, after previously reporting a profit of 816,000 pounds in the year prior.

Revenue was marginally up, however, amounting to 57.5 million pounds, yet for Jigsaw, its like-for-like sales growth of 2.3 percent was a “disappointing result”, with “work underway” to ensure improvement, the report noted.

The company’s gross profit remained relatively flat at 36.8 million pounds, while it fell into an operating loss of 934,000 pounds, after previously reporting a profit of 1.9 million pounds in 2022.

Among its strengths, Jigsaw noted that its store estate remained profitable and continued to “perform well”, thus drawing in more investment that has been funnelled into new store openings and a refurbishment of existing sites.

Optimism also continues for the current year, the operations of which have been overseen by chief executive officer Hash Ladha, who took over the helm role in November 2023.

The report stated: “At the beginning of the current financial year, against a continuing challenging market, [Ladha] set about clarifying the proposition and refreshing the leadership team and encouraging results of his initiatives have begun to appear in autumn 2024. He has also restructured key areas of the business to ensure the cost base is aligned to the business objectives.”