Bremont slumps further into the red despite Bill Ackman investment in luxury watch brand

British luxury watch brand Bremont slumped to a loss of more than £14m in the year American billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman became a minority investor, it has been revealed.

The Oxfordshire-based business has reported a pre-tax loss of £14.3m for the year to June 30, 2023, according to newly-filed accounts.

The results, which have been published almost five months late on Companies House, come after Bremont reported a pre-tax loss of £1.6m in the prior year.

During the year its turnover also fell from £22m to £20.3m.

Bremont said its results were impacted by the “commitment of significant resources” to the development of the ENG 300 movement and the in-house design and manufacture of components which “constrained capacity” to produce other watches.

The business added that it had exceptional costs of £5.7m which primarily consisted of stock provisions, fixed asset impairment and credit note provisions.

In January 2023 it was announced that Ackman had invested £48.8m alongside Bremont’s lead investor, private equity fund Hellcat.

At the time it was said that Bremont was valued at around £100m.

Bremont was co-founded by brothers Giles and Nick English in 2002.

UK and international sales fall but remain steady in North America

In a statement signed off by the board, Bremont said: “The end of the year saw the appointment of Davide Cerrato as CEO and the launch of an ambitious multi-year strategy aimed at building on Bremont’s impressive legacy to create a British national champion in the global luxury watch market.

“Bremont is fortunate to have inspirational founders, a much-loved brand, a world-class management team and a highly-skilled workforce and is now investing heavily in people, technology and operations to support future growth.”

During the year the average number of people employed by Bremont increased from 141 to 172.

Bremont’s UK revenue fell from £15.9m to £14.5m in the year and from £534,250 to £438,884 in the EU.

In North America, its revenue remained static at £4.2m while it was cut from £654,985 to £but 496,654 in Asia but rose slightly from £693,348 to £703,274 in the rest of the world.

How does Bremont compare to its luxury watch rivals?

The UK arm of luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet recently hailed its “robust financial health” after its sales jumped during 2023.

The division, which is headquartered in London, posted a revenue of £72m for the 12 months, up from £58.7m. Its pre-tax profit increased from £3.4m to £4.4m over the same period.

Richard Mille’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division, which is based in London, reported that its turnover rose from CHF 378.7m to CHF 365.3m while its pre-tax profits also increased from CHF 131.4m to CHF 147.1m.

Christopher Ward saw its profit spike as its sales almost doubled during its latest financial year.

Founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis in 2004, the business reported a turnover of £30.5m for the year to March 31, 2024, up from £16.8m.

According to recently-filed documents with Companies House, the firm’s pre-tax profits also surged from £222,000 to £3.9m.