Boden sales flat and profits down

Boden, favourite of the so-called "yummy mummy" tribe, has posted profits down 25% on sales that have remained flat for the third year in a row.

The mail order business, which was founded by ex-banker Johnny Boden in 1991, posted profits of £23.9m for last year (down from £32m on the prior year) on static sales of £283m.

In the directors' statement to accompany the numbers the business said first-half sales had been "disappointing" and that the retail market had become "increasingly competitive".

Boden's fortunes are in stark contrast to that of rival British lifestyle brand Joules, which also plays to the middle-class mums' market. Last month Joules revealed sales had jumped 14.2% in year ending May 2016 to £131.3m while underlying profits rose 41.5% to £7.5m. The business was floated on AIM in May.

Johnny Boden and his family still own 60% of the business with Boden's personal fortune believed to be around £410m. They are understood to have received the bulk of a £7.9m dividend.