Jimmy Choo H1 profit rises 174%

Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo, which agreed to be bought by Michael Kors back in July, reported a big jump in first-half profit on Thursday.

In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit was up 174.2% to £18.1m on total revenue of £201.6m, up from £173.1m in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 19.5% to £37.4m.

Retail sales rose 6.7% at constant currency, while licensing sales were up 24.3%, offsetting a 1.6% drop in wholesale revenue. Jimmy Choo said it renovated or relocated eight stores and closed five in the period.

Gross margin at the retailer improved by 0.2% to 63.8% as a weaker pound, volume growth, and lower markdowns and logistics costs helped to offset a continued reinvestment in Men's and Fashion collections.

The company said Men's remains the fastest growing category, now representing 9% of global revenue. It has continued to increase the number of stores selling men's products and now has 86 dual gender stores globally, up from 71 at the end of last year.

Chief executive officer Pierre Denis said: "We are delighted with our performance during the period, having delivered growth in revenue and margins, despite challenging market conditions. Strong underlying cash conversion has also allowed us to deleverage, providing us with a stable platform to deliver further strong growth.

"Our long-term growth strategy is to nurture the brand's unique DNA, to strive for excellence in business execution and to enhance client experience, in order to deliver superior growth and profitability, as well as leveraging the significant investments we have made in the business to date. We have continued to make good progress through the first half and are well positioned to deliver over the remainder of the year."