Cotton Traders’ sales and profits have dipped amid ongoing ‘macroeconomic turmoil’

Cotton Traders posted a 1.7% dip in sales for the 2023 full financial year, with turnover for the 52 weeks reaching £109.4m.

EBITDA for the year reached £11.57m, down 7.9% year on year, while operating profit also fell 9.9% to £9.8m.

Following its most successful financial year on record in 2022, Cotton Traders called its performance “steady” amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and inflationary pressures.

The fashion retailer noted that the 2023 financial year was made up of 52 weeks compared with the 53-week period in 2022.

Sales online were up 6.2% year on year and sales via the Cotton Traders app climbed 11.1% as it continues to acquire new customers via its digital channels.

The retailer’s investment in its bricks-and-mortar offering during the period was marked by 10 new openings, two relocations and nine store refits.

Cotton Traders added that 21.5% of its sales came directly from stores, while in-store orders grew by 11.4% compared to last year.

In terms of categories, menswear remained resilient, with shirt sales up 20% and knitwear up 11%.

Womenswear performed “particularly well” with an overall hike of 10% in sales across the category.

Cotton Traders chief executive Nick Hamblin said: “It’s promising to see our investment into physical stores paying dividends, with an uplift not only in sales year on year but also orders in store.

“The cost-of-living crisis has resulted in low consumer confidence and macroeconomic turmoil and we are so proud our customers remain loyal to the Cotton Traders brand despite the wider economic challenges.

“Continued customer retention, combined with an 11% increase in app sales and a growth in online penetration year on year are all testament to the success of our wider growth strategy.

“Customer loyalty remains strong, which can be credited to our competitive price point in the market and strong product offering – customer loyalty plays a huge part in purchase decisions, which is why we’ve continued to invest in the right areas to enhance all our customer touchpoints.

“We’re looking forward to the next year, which will see us implement our marketplace growth strategy, something we’ve already experienced success with through our full year of trading on Debenhams.com and soft launching on Freemans.com late last year.”