Wacoal EMEA turnover up but profits are down

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 4, 2018

UK-based underwear and swimwear maker Wacoal EMEA has reported rising turnover in its financial year to March 31 2017. But that didn’t help its bottom line and it also reported a drop in its pre-tax profit.

In a Companies House filing, the firm, which sells its products through John lewis, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, among other big names, saw revenues rising to £57.8 million in the 12-month period, up from £54.7 million.

But its pre-tax profits fell sharply from £3.6 million a year earlier to £2.3 million this time. No specific reason was given, although in its filing the firm did refer to “the continuing difficult economic conditions affecting the retail market.”

However, despite that tough backdrop, it said that its “ core business remains on track with its strategic goals.”

The Northampton company dates back to the 1920s and used to operate under the name Eveden. However, its was acquired from its private equity owners in 2012 by Japan-based global intimates giant Wacoal. The company paid £148 million for the business, which represented a fourfold return for the sellers on their original investment.

That purchase followed several years of rising profits with the profit for the 2010/11 financial year having hit £8.4 million on sales of almost £82 million.