“Our strong performance in the first half is testament to the strength of our business model, the under penetration of our brand globally, our agility in adapting to changing conditions and the passion and dedication of our people. We continue to take a long-term custodian approach to growing the brand, prioritizing DTC channels and our seven priority markets. At the start of the period we took Italy and Iberia back under direct control and we are very please with their performance to date”, commented Kenny Wilson, Chief Executive Officer.

First Half Results

In the six months to the 30^th of September 2021, revenue grew by 16%, reaching 369.9 million British pounds (433.1 million euros), as compared to revenue of 318.2 million British pounds (372.6 million euros) in the same period of last fiscal year. Profit before tax increased by 46% in this period, totalling 61.3 million British pounds (71.8 million euros), as compared to profit before tax of 41.9 million British pounds (49 million euros) in the first six months of fiscal 2021. Gross margin grew by 2.8 percentage points to 61.3% during the first half of the current fiscal year.

“We took the decision to enter the year with higher inventory levels, made possible by the continuity and carry over nature of our product and our partnership approach to supplier relationships. This meant that DTC availability levels remained relatively high and gross margin was not impacted, despite the supply chain disruption and global shipping delays experienced across the industry”, added Kenny Wilson, Chief Executive Officer.

In the first half of fiscal 2022, direct-to-consumer mix was up by 6 percentage points, amounting to 40% of total revenue, on a comparable basis to similar period of the prior year. Retail revenue increased by 92%, totalling 65.9 million British pounds (77.2 million euros). E-commerce registered continued strong performance, growing by 10% to 82.6 million British pounds (96.7 million euros). Wholesale revenue, however, was impacted by supply chain disruptions in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, which resulted in an overall increase of 6% in the first half of the current fiscal year.

The strongest regional performance in the first half of the current fiscal year occurred again in the Americas, which reported revenue growth of 55% across all channels, as compared to the same period of the prior year. In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa), revenue was up by 5%, driven by the recovery in the retail and strong e-commerce performance. In the APAC region (Asia Pacific), it declined by 2%, according to the company, due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in Japan, Australia and China.