Watches of Switzerland sees revenues drop to £382m
In the balance of the financial year the company believes it will maintain performance against softer comparatives
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Watches of Switzerland has announced that its revenues dropped 1% to £382m, down from £391m in Q1 2023, for the 13 weeks ended 30 July 2023.
The company stated that its revenue was in line with guidance, with its Q1 revenue primarily reflecting unwinding of the benefit of product intake in the UK in Q4 FY23 and strong prior year comparatives.
UK and Europe revenue of £219m, were down 8% compared with the same period last year impacted by product intake timing, which benefited Q4 FY23.
The company’s luxury watch sales were down 2% to £336m but this represented 88% of its revenue up from 87% of revenue in Q1 FY23.
Its ecommerce sales were down 2% at reported rates against strong comparatives in the prior year.
Watches of Switzerland’s FY24 guidance remains unchanged, with a return to more normalised growth.
In the balance of the financial year the company believes it will maintain performance against softer comparatives.
Brian Duffy, CEO, said: “We have delivered a Q1 performance in line with our guidance and expectations, with ongoing strong progress in the US, where we delivered 10% constant currency sales growth, and a performance in the UK and Europe that reflected the unwind of the product intake timing we benefited from in Q4 FY23.
“Q1 saw us make good ongoing progress against our strategic growth priorities, including the opening of our new multi-brand showroom in American Dream, New Jersey, continued refurbishment and enhancement of our Goldsmiths Luxury, Mappin & Webb and Mayors portfolio along with further mono-brand expansions, all of which are trading in line with our expectations since opening.”
He added: “We also successfully launched the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in the US in July 2023. Early performance has been encouraging as clients react positively to the authenticity and guarantee of quality that the Certified Pre-Owned seal represents. We are excited about this opportunity and are on track to launch our UK Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in September 2023.
“Looking ahead, we expect to return to more normalised growth rates in the balance of the financial year.Our full year guidance for another year of strong growth remains unchanged, underpinned by our supply visibility, client Registration of Interest lists and strong pipeline of showroom openings, refurbishment and investment, as luxury watch demand continues to outstrip supply.”
