Luxury fashion retailer LK Bennett has seen EBITDA jump 37 per cent to £11 million in its full year as it continued to build its presence in the US while growing its wholesale business, according to results released today.
For the 12 months ended July 28th 2012, turnover rose 15 per cent to £94.1 million while gross profit reached £62.7 million, up 15 per cent on the same period in 2011.
Online sales also saw a significant boost with the retailer‘s website now reporting three times the annual sales of its flagship London store and the group today unveiled plans to launch a site in the US early this year.
Welcoming the results, Robert Bensoussan, Chairman, said: “These results show that despite difficult markets, L.K.Bennett has a strong positioning as the pre-eminent British accessible luxury brand.
“We are particularly pleased with our US growth and we are targeting further investment in that market through an increasing store presence and through the launch of a US website in Spring 2013.”
Around half of LK Bennett‘s annual turnover came from shoes and as such the retailer is focussed on improving sales of clothing, bags and accessories in the coming year.
The high-end retailer operates from 106 branded locations worldwide and opened four standalone US stores during the period, including a New York flagship. In Ma 2012, the group opened a concession in department store Harvey Nichols while five branded stores also opened their doors in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar.
At the end of last week, LK Bennett announced British actress Rosamund Pike as the new face of its Spring/Summer 2013 fashion campaign and it is hoped that this will strengthen its position within a competitive market.
Didier Drouet, LK Bennett‘s CEO, said: “We have demonstrated our commitment to creating L.K.Bennett as a truly global brand.
“At a creative level, there is a great deal of momentum, as shown by our recent limited edition collaboration with fashion icon, Caroline Issa and most recently, the announcement of our new face Spring Summer 2013 campaign, British actress, Rosamund Pike. We are excited about the future.”
