|
Joules Group PLC shares tumbled on Wednesday after it reported profit in the Easter trading period slumped, and its chief executive officer is set to exit the company.
The Leicestershire, England-based country lifestyle retailer said in the 13 weeks to May 1, challenging market conditions have caused profit to fall below management expectations in some areas of its business, despite a 20% revenue increase.
Shares in Joules were down 31% to 38.00 pence each in London on Wednesday late morning, having hit a new 52-week low of 33.25p earlier. The stock has fallen 84% in the past year.
Joules said a competitive environment with emphasis on promotional activity hurt margins in its own channels, as customers sought bargains and shied away from full-price items.
Demand for its home and garden categories also was ‘subdued’, with online sales particularly so. Recent acquisition Garden Trading performed ‘significantly below’ expectations over its peak sales period of March and April.
Third-party sales also underperformed across numerous UK accounts, and US wholesale sales lagged behind expectations as demand dipped and stock faced delays.
Joules announced Chief Executive Officer Nick Jones will step down from his role during the first half of the group's next financial year, with the current year ending in May. The search for his successor will begin shortly.
‘Building on the strategic progress made so far, over the coming months we will continue to deliver against the clear priorities that the board and I believe will create a strong foundation for Joules to achieve its significant long-term potential, as well as helping the business to navigate the current challenging trading environment,’ said Jones.
Joules anticipates the trading challenges will continue into the first half of financial 2023, and is ‘cautious’ about its near-term outlook.
At the time of interim results in February, it had guided an adjusted pretax profit of no less than £5.0 million for financial 2022.
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
|
