Barbour upbeat despite pandemic impact, stays profitable

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 7, 2021

Barbour has filed its accounts for the 12 months up to the end of April last year and it’s particularly interesting because it includes around a two-month period in which the pandemic was making an impact.

The company said that impact was "significant" during the final quarter, but its revenues still showed progress, although profit was lower year-on-year. 

The financial year saw turnover rising 7.8% to £242.8 million, which the company said was due to the strength of its brands and the consistency of its long-term strategic focus, despite the difficult backdrop. 

But gross profit fell to 49.4% from 54.2%. And its operating profit fell to £35 million from £38 million, while net profit dropped to £28.94 million from £31.37 million.

Yet it's still profitable and the balance sheet remains strong with cash held in the business rising to £97.4 million from £87.2 million, enabling it to focus on its long-term investment objectives. The company said that one key investment focus will be technology and also enhancing its sustainability credentials.

Meanwhile, its Barbour Europe operation that focuses on Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux region managed to swing from a net loss of £398,000 in the previous year to a profit of £36,000. That may be small, but it was a profit nonetheless.

Operating profit for the unit was £147,480 after a loss of £308,171 in the previous year. That was supported by the decision to close one retail store and to focus on cost controls and efficiency. 

The Europe firm’s revenues were largely in line with the previous year (actually they rose by £0.5 million to £21.1 million), although there was a swing between channels from physical stores towards e-commerce. That’s understandable in the light of the pandemic that started to have an effect in March 2020.