Confident Fragrance Shop maintains growth plan in post-Covid era

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Oct 28, 2022

The Fragrance Shop has enjoyed a post-pandemic bounce with rising annual sales and profits as the retailer looks forward to further growth alongside moving to a new combined HQ and fulfilment centre.

Latest accounts show revenue rose to £156.8 million in the 53 weeks to 2 April, up from £110 million in the 52 weeks to 27 March 2021. Notably, the sales rise is ahead of pre-pandemic 2020’s £120 million.

Online sales jumped 129% on 2020, but were down 12% on 2021 when the group's online sales leapt during the pandemic and associated lockdowns. TFS said its subscription services, including the MyTFS membership scheme and discovery service Scent Addict, have continued to perform well.

It also reported a pre-tax profit of £24.5 million for the year, up from £11.7 million in 2021.

TFS noted its stores were closed in the first weeks of the financial year due to Covid lockdowns, although the impact was smaller than in the previous year which suffered three lockdowns. When its stores did reopen, the retailer said they traded strongly and customer spend rose, resulting in underlying store sales doubling on the prior year and 6.2% up on 2019-20. Strongest brand performers were Chanel Coco Mademoiselle for women and Dior Sauvage for men.

During the reported fiscal year, the group's store rollout strategy continued, with 18 new units added over the period taking its overall count to 215 UK locations.

The company said it "is well placed to navigate the current uncertainty going forwards and will continue to roll out stores and expand its digital footprint”.