// Hotter sees an improved trading performance thanks to its new management team
// In the 2018 year to January 31, Hotter’s sales were £100.8m, but dropped to £93m in the 2019 financial year to the end of January
Hotter has reported an “improved trading performance” thanks to its new management team led by chief executive Ian Watson.
The shoes retailer said it “started its recovery from a difficult 2018”.
Investor Electra Private Equity reported that its latest set of results and the balance sheet showed that the firm’s Hotter Shoes unit is improving its performance.
READ MORE: Hotter welcomes Claire Pearl as chief product officer
The firm said that the market is currently challenging, but immediate actions taken by the new management team have led to an improved performance overall.
Meanwhile, in the 2018 year to January 31, Hotter’s sales were £100.8 million, but dropped to £93 million in the 2019 financial year to the end of January, while the unaudited figures for the last 12 months show sales of £88.9 million.
In that 2018 financial year, EBITDA was £9.5 million, plunging to £3.5 million the next year but rising to £6.2 million in the last 12 months.
The firm’s return on capital employed has also recovered, dropping from 5.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent between the 2018 and 2019 financial years but then returning to 5.9 per cent in the last 12 months.
Hotter mainly operates in the UK and abroad through direct consumer marketing, and the parent firm said that in its domestic market and the US there are “demographic changes that offer significant opportunities for growth over the long term”.
Electra Private Equity said it has invested £7.5 million in Hotter in early 2019 to support its transformation.
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