Decathlon UK falls into the red as H2 proves tough

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 12, 2018

The UK arm of French sportswear retailer Decathlon has swung into a loss in the year to 31 December 2017, despite seeing sales rise by double-digits.

Revenue for the year increased by almost 30% to £187.3 million, helped by a price cut strategy and the opening of seven new stores during the period, but the company made a loss of £8.4 million from pre-tax profits of £0.8m a year before.

Revenue for comparable stores decreased by 16%, documents filed with Companies House showed this week. Decathlon said the second half of the year was more difficult due to Brexit and the challenging retail environment.

The company, which sells its products at affordable prices, warned that supermarkets are devoting more floor space to non-food items, something that is making it harder to stay competitive on price and could potentially threaten the business.

Decathlon launched in the UK with a first store in Surrey Quays, London in 1999. This location was recently revamped and upsized to create a major sports facility complete with a rooftop multi-sports arena, multiple sport test areas and a mini aquarium.

The sports retail has currently more than 30 stores across the UK and plans to over 300 sites within the next 10 years.