Footasylum: New flagship Oxford Street store helps profit more than double

Pre-tax profit more than doubled at footwear and sportswear retailer Footasylum during its latest financial year.

The Greater Manchester-headquartered company has reported a profit of £6m for the year to 27 January, 2024 , up from the £2.8m it posted for the prior 12 months.

During the year Footasylum opened a flagship 20,000 sq ft Oxford Street store in London as well as sites in Birmingham, Essex, Westfield Stratford, Watford and Leicester. Another shop in Leeds was opened in March 2024.

The retailer has also revealed that its womenswear sales rose by 16 per cent in the year while its junior category also grew by 14 per cent.

Its wholesale revenue surged by 87 per cent from £9m to £16.8m.

The full results come after Footasylum hailed a “record-breaking” year and its revenue of £319.5m, up from £297.9m, in February.

It also revealed at the time that its online sales made up 42 per cent of that total while Footasylum’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) increased by 38 per cent to £22m, an all-time high for the business.

Change at the top

The results also come after it was announced in March that the CEO and executive chairman of Footasylum was to take on a role with Aurelius, the German private equity firm that owned the brand and The Body Shop – ahead of the latter’s collapse into administration.

Barry Bown had held the positions at the Greater Manchester-headquartered retailer since June 2018, having previously been at JD Sports for more than 30 years and its CEO from 2000 to 2014.

He was succeeded by David Pujolar, who joined from AW LAB, a multi-brand, multi-channel streetwear, sportswear and lifestyle retailer, where he has been general manager since 2016.

Aurelius acquired Footasylum in 2022 for almost £40m. The brand had been owned by JD Sports after it was acquired for £90m in 2019.

However, the retail giant was forced to sell the business after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the takeover after it ruled the merger could lead to less choice and a “worse deal” for customers.

Earlier in 2022, JD Sports and Footasylum were fined almost £4.7m by the CMA for sharing commercially sensitive information during its investigation.

Peter Cowgill, the long-serving executive chairman of JD Sports, resigned from the company in May after the fine.

Footasylum ‘extremely optimistic’ for the future

Nick Scott, Footasylum’s chief financial officer, said: “We are delighted to report that FY24 has marked Footasylum’s best-ever financial performance.

“We achieved record revenues and profits, driven by double-digit growth in both wholesale and online sales.

“Our performance was also supported by the success of our creative content channels, which now boast an astonishing 5.8 million followers.

“During the period, we also made strategic investments for future growth. We enhanced our technology to support our omnichannel customer journey, expanded our highly popular own brand portfolio, and continued our digital-first, bigger-and-better store expansion programme.

“With strong momentum across the business, and the proven success of our ambitious growth strategy, we are extremely optimistic about Footasylum’s future prospects.”

‘Proud to see the strong management team thriving’

Tobias Klaiber, managing director at Aurelius Operations Advisory, added: “Footasylum’s continued strong growth underpins the impact of the bespoke guidance that we are able to provide with our team at Aurelius Operations Advisory.

“Our specialists support driving success across various aspects of the business, from working capital management to operational efficiency and, most importantly, growth.

“We are particularly proud to see the strong management team thriving and positioning the company for further expansion, aligning with Footasylum’s strategy: transforming into a disruptive entertainment company and leading brand incubator.”