Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group (EWM Group) has reported
strong profit growth in its latest financial figures, while losses at its
premium fashion brand Jaeger have considerably narrowed.
The group, which also owns brands such as Peacocks, Austin Reed and Jane
Norman, reported a profit after tax for the 27-week period to 2 March 2019
of 23.4 million pounds, on sales of 327.14 million pounds.
It is difficult to accurately compare these latest results with those of
the prior year because in 2018 the group reported on a 78-week period
ending August.
The Edinburgh Woollen Mill brand itself, as opposed to the group, posted
a profit after tax of 12 million pounds, while its discount fashion
retailer Peacocks, which was recently named the preferred bidder for a potential takeover of British
womenswear retailer Bonmarché, posted a profit after tax of 17
million pounds.
Jaeger cuts losses
Jaeger, which was acquired by EWM Group in 2017 after falling into
administration, saw its losses narrow significantly to 1.1 million pounds
while adding seven new standalone stores and four new concession outlets
across the UK. In the year before it collapsed, the brand posted a loss of
7.1 million pounds.
A spokesperson for EWM Group said in a statement: “In the face of a
challenging retail environment, our relentless commitment to customers and
their wants and needs has allowed us, again, to stand out from the crowd.
Customers continue to look for exceptional value for money and reject
low-quality, ‘wear once’ apparel. In response, we have continued to focus
not only on retailing at a highly attractive price point, which is
essential, but also ensuring a fashionable look and cut, high level of
build quality, and extended product longevity across all our brands.
“The turnaround in Jaeger’s fortunes validates our heavy investment in
the brand and our commitment to hiring top industry talent. It also
validates our approach of replacing the company’s previous reliance on an
unsustainable low-margin, discount-led marketing strategy with our plan to
re-establish Jaeger as a badge of quality, which has been done effectively.
This echoes our commitment as a Group to ‘first price, right price’ and our
resistance to an escalating discounting culture, which we have strongly
resisted.
Photo credit: Jaeger, Facebook
