Watches of Switzerland is looking to double its sales and profits in the next five years in a bid to capitalise on the robust demand for luxury watches.
The retailer is aiming for its sales to surpass the £3bn milestone by the end of its 2028 financial year.
As part of its growth strategy, the firm will accelerate its store expansion and showroom upgrade programme over the next five years with more targeted acquisitions, such as the 19 branches it bought from Ernest Jones last month.
Watches of Switzerland also plans to grow its market share in the pre-owned market and the luxury branded jewellery category, which the group is “currently underdeveloped in”.
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The retailer set out its new long-term plan after reporting strong sales despite the “difficult consumer environment”.
Group revenue edged up 1% to £379m for the 13 weeks to October, boosted by an 88% growth in pre-owned sales. UK sales remained flat at £214m.
However, it said that high turnover Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb showrooms were closed for upgrades during the period, and trading out of pop-ups. These stores will reopen ahead of Christmas.
First half-year sales slipped from £765m to £761m during the six months, following a 17% decrease in luxury jewellery revenue.
The designer watch retailer said its profit and sales outlook remains unchanged for the year as it expects revenue to fall in the range of £1.65bn and £1.70bn for the 52 weeks to 30 April.
Watches of Switzerland chief executive Brian Duffy said its new plan would “capitalise on our leading market positions and the unique growth opportunities available to us as the world’s largest luxury watch retailer”.
“The group is stronger than it has ever been, and we are tracking well ahead of the original plan we outlined in 2021, with a diverse pipeline of projects already scheduled for FY24, FY25 and FY26, which includes our strongest ever pipeline of committed Rolex projects.”
“We are now perfectly positioned to apply our market leading luxury watch model and expertise in elevating luxury brands to this growing category, which we expect to comprise a substantially larger share of our total revenue as we expand our offer and leverage partnerships with US megabrands.”
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