Profits cut at Monsoon and Accessorize owner as demand for children’s clothes falls

A drop in demand for children’s clothing saw profits fall at the owner of Monsoon and Accessorize.

Adena Brands, which is owned by Peter Simon, has posted a pre-tax profit of £14m for the year to August 26, 2023, down from £17.8m.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House have also confirmed that its turnover decreased from £240.7m to £231m over the same period.

The group’s UK sales went from £201.9m to £193.7m while its international turnover fell from £38.8m to £37.2m.

The group said the fall in its sales was due to the “relative strength” of Monsoons’ womenswear being offset by the decline in its childrenswear as the market “normalised post-pandemic”.

During the year the group opened 22 stores in the UK and Europe.

“Another year of change”

A statement signed off by the board said: “The period covered by this review… marked another year of change for the group and a much more challenging environment than the year before.”

It added: “Despite the challenging environment, the group delivered well against our main commercial objectives in three key areas.

“First we delivered robust sales and managed our cost base and capital spend to offset strong inflationary increases.

“Second, we continued our multi-year omni-channel transformation, continuing the transition of our retail portfolio with updated store formats and locations and strengthened our digital capabilities.

“Third, we replaced our legacy core technology infrastructure, seamlessly transitioning the business onto a new enterprise resource planning platform.”

“Challenges of the past year will continue”

On its future, the group added: “Although inflation is moderating somewhat, and we expect its impact on our cost base and on demand will normalise over time, we believe the challenges of the past year will continue for at least the next 12 months.

“We are navigating the current environment with a tactical focus on trading and tight cost controls, but we continue to invest in our long-term strategy of rejuvenating our brands, investing in our retail and digital channels, rebuilding our international presence and modernising our operating and technology platform.

“The success thus far of our turnaround of the business and the continued strong financial results in the face of multiple challenges are encouraging, and we look forward to continued progress in the year ahead.”