Kurt Geiger powers ahead as handbags add a big boost

Kurt Geiger may be best known as a footwear retailer, but its bags offer was just as important for it in its latest full year, the company’s accounts have shown.
It saw a 31% rise in its turnover, reaching £329.5 million in the year to the end of January, with its EBITDA surging as much as 49% to £30 million. 

Annual wholesale turnover rose 62% to £70.1 million, with wholesale EBITDA more than doubling during the period.

The 60-year-old company – which is reportedly up for sale – can also thank its international growth for the strength of its results. But those handbag sales (both at home and abroad) were most crucial with the category rising 72% to £91.6 million year on year. In fact, it looks like we should stop simply referring to the company just as a footwear retailer because handbags now represent half of its UK sales. Handbags are also also the business’s most important category in the US.

And given that the firm has also expanded into jewellery and swimwear, as those categories grow, future years could see us adjusting our description of the business even more.

The company operates shoe departments in high-end department stores globally and these are clearly prospering. But the improvement in its results was also helped by its standalone branded store opening plans with 12 new locations alone having opened in the last 12 months and a key store having opened on Oxford Street post-period-end this year. And it’s been opening stores in North America as well with three opened in Mexico and six planned for the US in the next year.

CEO Neil Clifford said: “We firmly believe in bricks and mortar as the cornerstone of our omnichannel retail offering and following successful store openings across the UK and now North America, we will continue to open more stores in the US and across Europe in 2024.” 

Yet it’s not neglecting online which makes good commercial sense, given that online sales in the US in increased by as much as 171% in the latest year.