Low consumer confidence impacts Joules trading

Joules trading for the 11 weeks to October 30, 2022 has been behind the group's expectations.

The company said in a release: “this, in large part, reflects the challenging UK economic environment which has negatively impacted consumer confidence and disposable income.”

The trading underperformance has resulted in the company's working capital position being below expectations. The company has advanced discussions with a number of strategic investors, including Tom Joule, to provide a cornerstone investment in an equity raise. The group is also continuing to progress alternative options with the assistance of Interpath Advisory, including CVA planning.

Review of Joules’ performance

The company added that while dresses, menswear and more formal product categories performed well, larger core categories such as outerwear, wellies and knitwear have been impacted, in part, by the milder than expected weather.

Retail ecommerce sales have been behind expectations for the period, particularly due to softer ecommerce traffic, while store sales have been slightly ahead of expectations.

The company further said that retail margins have benefitted from the positive impact of the group's improved pricing and delivery proposition, however this has been offset by the high levels of promotional activity across the market, leaving overall retail margin performance slightly behind expectations.

UK wholesale for the Joules brand has performed well and has been in line with expectations, however wholesale performance overall has been impacted by underperformance across Garden Trading and US wholesale. Friends of Joules continues to perform well.