Sweaty Betty's pre-pandemic results are strong

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 19, 2021

Sweaty Betty has filed a strong set of results for its latest financial year, although given that this covers the period to December 2019, it’s frustrating that the filing include little detail around how it’s done since then due to the pandemic.

The company sells through its own stores, through wholesale partners and via department store concessions, but it also has a webstore and has been investing in this for some time. 

This digital focus and the gym-to-street and performance clothing that it specialises in, suggest it could have done well in 2020 as consumers flocked online to buy comfort clothing and performance pieces for home workouts.

Sweaty Betty told us that it “continued to grow in 2020… driven by the company’s strong online presence, continued focus on providing world class products and exceptional customer service”.

And while its stores were closed for three months last year, it said its digital channels traded “strongly”. But it admitted that the current situation means a lot of uncertainty, although the company has plenty of cash available to continue its operations. 

Looking back at the pre-pandemic period that made up most of the results filing, it had a good year with revenue up 29% to £72.9 million. It also swung to a net profit of £1.95 million from a loss of £0.48 million in the previous year. Meanwhile, its EBITDA was £5.59 million, much better than the £1.24 million in 2018. 

The UK accounted for 81% of its turnover (down from 83% a year earlier) while the US made up 18% of the total, up from 16%. The other 1% of sales were made in the rest of the world.

The company said it was pleased with its strategic performance and noted the ongoing investment into its digital operations, including in marketing and the wholesale channel. The gross margin also rose to 48.6% from 46.5%.