Gerry Weber writes dark red figures for 2022, forecasts turnover decline in 2023

Clothing supplier Gerry Weber has had another eventful year. In April, parent company Gerry Weber International AG initiated restructuring proceedings based on German law and the Stabilisation and Restructuring Framework for Enterprises (StaRUG). At the same time, the German subsidiary Gerry Weber Retail GmbH filed for bankruptcy, followed by the Austrian subsidiary in July.

The reorganisation plan, approved by the Essen local court in November, included sweeping reforms and cost-saving measures, and marked the end of Gerry Weber International AG. As part of a capital reduction, Luxembourg-based GWI Holding S.à.r.l. subscribed to all new shares in the company as a restructuring investor. The group was subsequently delisted in early December and converted into a public limited company.

Gerry Weber sinks deep into the red in 2022

On Wednesday, the group once again looked back. The long-awaited annual report for the 2022 financial year was published and the management also gave an outlook on figures for 2023.

According to the report, the group's revenue from continuing operations - i.e. excluding the shares of the operations in Russia, which have now been sold - amounted to 313.7 million euros in 2022. This corresponds to an increase of 20.9 percent compared to the previous year, when the business was still heavily affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, higher material, freight and personnel costs and extended discounting campaigns had a negative impact on profits. Normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) were minus 6.4 million euros, compared with a clearly positive figure of 28.8 million euros in the previous year.

The reported operating loss was 25.6 million euros. In 2021, Gerry Weber had generated an operating profit of 17.1 million euros. The final result was a net loss of 35.1 million euros. A year earlier, the company reported a surplus of 23.0 million euros.

After reorganisation: Management expects lower revenue and high operating loss in 2023

The current year 2023 is now largely characterised by the reorganisation measures. Based on the figures available in November, management expects revenue to fall to between 278 million euros and 307 million euros and normalised EBITDA in the "negative low double-digit million euro range", not least due to the recent "optimisation of the shop portfolio".