Fashion firm Barbour has chalked up a 20% rise in turnover, despite having to deal with the aftermath of Covid in its supply chain, new accounts show.
The South Tyneside company first started in the 1890s to provide hardwearing coats for the region’s fishermen, sailors and mariners, yet now sells its large range of coats, outerwear, accessories and footwear around the world, to everyone from rock stars to royalty. The company’s latest results, covering the year ended April 2023, show a hike in turnover from £286.6m to £343.1m, although operating profit fell from £40.3m to £34.3m as it absorbed a number of rising costs without passing them onto customers.
Operating profit dropped by £6m in the year, though the prior year included the sale of property so on a like-for-like basis, operating profit only reduced by £800,000. In the company’s report, directors said the firm’s rise in revenues demonstrated how Barbour was bouncing back from Covid, but highlighted continuing supply chain issues throughout the year.
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The group said its balance sheet also remains strong, with cash held in the business of £106.4m, up from £58.4m in 2022, which it said would enable it to focus on long term investments and priorities.
Following publication of the accounts, Steve Buck, group managing director, said: “We are pleased to see strong growth in our revenues as the business continues to recover robustly from the impact of Covid-19. However, the ongoing aftermath of the pandemic can still be seen in our supply chain and the economic fallout resulting from the cost of living crisis, war in the Ukraine, uncertainty across global markets, intense cost pressures, in particular exchange rate pressure and competition for volatile demand remaining high, have all presented numerous challenges to margins across all channels and markets.
“Despite the current global challenges, we remain confident in our long-term growth strategy and will continue to invest in our people, systems and our service. Offering good value to our consumers is paramount and as a consequence, we have not raised our prices in line with the cost increases we are experiencing. We are working through structural changes to mitigate the negative impact of Brexit which means we will invest further in technology and sustainability to ensure we continue to develop our commercial proposition.
“We believe that there are many exciting and accessible markets around the world where our brands can add style, functionality and quality to consumers lives. Our strategy will be to cautiously build new long-term relationships and expand our commercial reach and ambitions incrementally.
“Despite the operational and financial challenges caused by Brexit, the European Economic Area remains an important market for us with well established long term partnerships. We will continue to grow our presence in this key market and continue to make investments and transformational changes to deliver longer term more sustainable solutions for the region.”
The Barbour Foundation, which supports charitable causes, health and scientific research programmes and women’s groups, primarily in the North East, receives its funding from the shareholders dividend. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated more than £29m to charitable causes including this year to The Prince’s Trust, North Music Trust and St Oswald’s Hospice as well as donating to the Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal.
Mr Buck added: “The fiscal year 2023/24 will continue to be challenging for our business against an ongoing background of the cost of living crisis, market contractions, higher inflation and global uncertainty caused by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. However, we remain confident that if we continue to be financially prudent, invest intelligently and strategically for the future in our products, people and brands, we will continue to navigate through these difficult times in a strong position.”
