Fashion retailer Joules' profits soar ahead of 100th store opening

• Full-year pre-tax profits jump 36%
• Sales jump 22%
• 100th store to open by Christmas

Profits before tax climbed to £5m in the 12 months to the end of May 2015, while sales leapt 22% to £117.1m, helped by the launch of a click-and-collect service last year.

Joules opened 13 new stores in the year and will open its 100^th store before Christmas.

Sales were up across the womenswear, menswear and childrenswear categories, as well as homewear and eyewear. The fashion retailer has extended its lifestyle offering in recent years. In April it launched an eyewear collection with Vision Express exclusively aimed at women and children.

Ecommerce and catalogue sales made up 34% of total retail sales.

UK revenue increased 17.5%. International sales were up 65%. The company has made significant investments in infrastructure as part of its international growth strategy. In March the retailer revealed a 44% jump in international sales in line with its US expansion.

The company will also relaunch Joules.com this month as part of its multichannel expansion plan. This follows a 25% surge in sales over the Christmas period last year due to an uplift in multichannel shoppers.

Founder Tom Joule said: “We continue to develop as a lifestyle brand across categories and distribution channels and have experienced fantastic momentum in our home market in the UK as well as international markets, where we are establishing the brand.

“We remain absolutely focused on carefully growing Joules across both new and existing markets whilst ensuring that the brand remains loved by our loyal community of existing customers as well as attracting new ones. Our customer database grew by 25% during the year, highlighting the appeal and strength of the brand.”

The retailer also signed an additional £11m credit facility with Barclays to support expansion and delivery of growth strategy, taking its total facility to £26m.