More customers shopped at Harvey Nichols, helping sales surpass the £200 million mark for the first time since the pandemic, according to newly filed accounts.
The luxury department store chain, founded in 1831, reported sales of £216.6 million for the year to April 1, 2023, an increase on the same period last year (£191.6 million).
Belated accounts just filed with Companies House also show that pre-tax losses were reduced from £30.4 million to £21.2 million over the same period.
The last time Harvey Nichols reported sales of more than £200 million was £222.1 million for the year to 28 March 2020.
The latest profit before tax was £2.6 million for the year ended 30 March 2019.
In addition to its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London, Harvey Nichols also has stores in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin, as well as in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.
Harvey Nichols is owned by Hong Kong-based luxury goods company Dickson Concepts.
Cost increases offset higher customer frequency at Harvey Nichols
In a statement signed by the board, Harvey Nichols said: “This year was the first full year since the start of the pandemic that was not affected by Covid restrictions.
“Although higher customer traffic led to higher sales, cost increases and margin declines due to higher discounts across the market resulted in a loss before tax.”
It continues: “Management is convinced that the Group is able to manage its business risks despite the ongoing economic uncertainty.”
“The Group has modelled a cautious but realistic base case scenario, taking into account previous trading levels.
“Directors have stress-tested these assumptions and developed a reasonably plausible scenario that takes into account a slower-than-expected recovery in trade and cost increases due to inflationary pressures.”
Harvey Nichols generated sales of £204.6 million from its stores, online shop and head office last year (compared to £180 million the previous year) and reduced its operating losses from £25.7 million to £14.9 million.
Revenue from the stall restaurants rose from £11.6 million to £11.9 million, but operating profit was £231,000 and the loss was now £474,000.
Geographically, Harvey Nichols increased its sales in the UK from £169.5 million to £194.1 million. In the rest of the world, the company recorded a slight increase from £22.1 million to £22.4 million.
Job cuts and a new CEO
On average, the number of employees in the company rose from 1,167 to 1,289.
In March 2024, Harvey Nichols announced plans to cut around five percent of its workforce in order to streamline operations and become more profitable.
The results come after Harvey Nichols announced the appointment of Julia Goddard as its new chief executive, following the departure of Manju Malhotra towards the end of 2023.
Goddard joins from Alexander McQueen, where she worked for 14 years. She will report to Chairman Sir Dickson Poon and Vice Chairman Pearson Poon.
