Fred Perry issues bumper pay day as sales pass milestone

British sporting and fashion brand Fred Perry has paid out a bumper dividend after its sales jumped past the £150m mark during its latest financial year.

Founded by Wimbledon champion Fred Perry in 1952, the company has issued £90m in dividends for 2023 after its turnover totalled £154.1m for the year.

The figure comes after Fred Perry posted a turnover of £140.1m for 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that the London-based firm’s pre-tax profit grew from £16.5m to £18.4m over the year.

The huge dividend comes after Fred Perry paid out £6m in 2022.

The group, which also includes the Lavenham and George Cox brands, has bene owned by Japanese company Hit Union since 1995.

Fred Perry manages cost pressures to keep prices stable

A statement signed off by the board said: “2023 built on the success of 2022 and showed a continued growth in revenue putting the group’s trajectory back in line with pre-Covid expectations and working alongside this was the strengthening of the gross margin.

“This was driven by the improvement in freight costs, amongst other factors, throughout 2023 and also the sales mix with growth in our key margin rich products (the Fred Perry shirt).

“The year had its challenges with continued unpredictability in cost increases due to the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine, rising inflation and interest rates on borrowing.

“All of these not only impacted the price of doing business, consumers’ disposable income and confidence in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis as well as the cost-of-living impact for all our employees.

“The improvement in the freight costs through 2023 was a welcome relief but could be short lived with the new uncertainly around the Suez Canal caused by the Iranian-backed militant group attacks.

“This has caused increased shipping times and costs due to ships being forced to change routes to avoid any conflicts and in turn resulted in the freight companies passing these additional costs to us, their consumers.”

Fred Perry’s turnover in Europe increased from £96m to £99.1m in the year while it grew from £44m to £54.9m in the rest of the world.

The company added: “With the global cost pressures and uncertainty that still hang over from previous years, it is reassuring to see the results for the financial year are strong.

“We continue to manage costs to hold on to a healthy profit percentage and maintain a very strong net asset position with large cash reserves.”