Revenues up but losses double at Selfridges’ parent company

Cambridge Retail Group Holding, alongside its UK and European subsidiaries Selfridges, Ireland-based Brown Thomas Arnotts and the Netherlands’ de Bijenkorf, has filed its financial statements for the year to 3 February 2024, with department stores and online retailing at the core of its activities.

There was some positivity in the report, with revenue for the group up 1.6 billion pounds on the year prior’s 804.7 million pounds, while gross profit also rose from 346 million pounds to 840.7 million pounds. EBITDA, meanwhile, amounted to 208 million pounds, up from 41 million pounds in 2023.

Losses, however, doubled. Operating loss increased from 42.7 million pounds to 145 million pounds, as loss before income tax came to 340.3 million pounds, an increase on its prior 126.2 million pounds.

The company cited a “dynamic and challenging retail and consumer environment” as one of the main principal risks impacting its strategy and business, yet noted that its “experiential retail proposition for customers” aimed to “ensure a long-term sustainable future for the business”.

Other concerns stated in the report were that of a “complex and uncertain economic and geopolitical environment”, tackling an ESG agenda, and the “pace of digital acceleration”.