Rituals posts higher profit despite Covid

At most, the Covid pandemic has slowed down the growth of Rituals, according to the annual report of the Dutch cosmetics chain. The net profit was even higher than a year ago.

Modest growth

It had been clear for some time that Rituals would not reach the predetermined target of one billion euro in turnover. The impact of the forced store closures was far too poignant. In the end, the revenue stranded at 888 million euros, still 24 million euros more than in 2019 and therefore not bad at all. The limited growth of 3 per cent remains somewhat modest compared to the growth spurt of 24 per cent a year earlier.

Rituals posted a gross operating profit of 172 million euros, also slightly higher than in 2019. The net profit rose from 83 million euros to 88.7 million euros. Nevertheless, the retailer decided not to pay out a dividend for both 2020 and 2021.

Founder Raymond Cloosterman looks to the future confidently: he expects the chain to grow further and the number of employees to reach 5,000 in the foreseeable future. Moreover, he remains extremely ambitious: “It has taken us twenty years to go from zero to 1 billion. That is, in all modesty, quite brilliant. Now I’d like to see if we can go from 1 to 2 billion in ten years”, he told Quote.