Danish group Bestseller looks back on a particularly challenging year with satisfaction. The group behind brands like Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and Only saw its profits being squeezed despite rising sales.
Changing market
A year ago, Bestseller managed to release record figures, but even then the company warned that the future would be very challenging. The fashion group still managed to boost sales by 5 % to just under five billion euros, but profits fell 19 % to 526 million euros due to sharply increased costs in a changing market. The group’s 2,100 physical shops and those of partner retailers performed well, but online sales fell for the first time.
Still, CEO Anders Holch Povlsen is not dissatisfied with that result, saying that his company is not immune to turbulent times. Rather, in the decreasing operating results he finds proof that his company has absorbed an important part of the cost increases, rather than charge them in full to the customers.
Investments
The CEO also points out that Bestseller has made significant investments in recent years in digitisation, business models, materials and technologies to contribute to the necessary transformation of the fashion industry. The company will also continue to invest in the coming years, building a high-tech distribution centre in the Netherlands.
The group’s twenty brands also continue to expand their retail network, already selling through 2,600 branded shops, more than 16,000 multi-brand shops and online shops in seventy countries worldwide.
