Seasalt reports record-breaking Christmas sales across all channels

Cornish clothing brand, Seasalt, has revealed record-breaking Christmas sales during the five weeks leading up to 30 December 2023.

Total sales across online, stores and through marketplace partners increased by 16% year on year.

Seasalt stores saw a second consecutive record Christmas, up by 17% year-on-year, with customers continuing to appreciate the opportunity to experience the Seasalt brand in person.

Online sales also remained strong throughout the Christmas season and came in at 11% above last year’s, another record revenue level.

Seasalt has formed increasingly important relationships with marketplace partners, including M&S, Next and Zalando. During the period, sales were up by 32% compared to the year prior.

Jon Lewis, Chief Trading Officer, Seasalt Cornwall said: "It is pleasing to see all three of our principal sales channels perform so well over the festive season. We have a good balance across our channels which helps to provide resilience in difficult trading conditions but also leads to outstanding performance when all three are doing well. The results reflect our customers' reaction to new full-price products and a great response to our end-of-season sale.”

Financial results for the year ended January 2023:

• Revenue growth up by 23% to £118 million
• Store sales up by 12%
• EBITDA for the year (excluding exceptional items and unrealised gains and losses) exceeded £8.5 million, up on the year before (£7.9 million).

Looking ahead, current expectations for the year ending 27 January 2024 are that total revenues will exceed £135 million, which would represent a growth of 12.5%. All channels have experienced good levels of growth year-to-date with the strongest being stores (up another 10% like-for-like year-to-date over 2022) and partners (up 39% year-on-year). Strong margin improvements and measured cost controls have also lifted profitability with EBITDA for the full year expected to exceed £10 million.

Paul Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, Seasalt Cornwall said: "Sales have been strong throughout the key festive trading weeks in 2023 and we’re proud to have been able to build on the success we’ve seen in recent years, despite ongoing external economic challenges.

"2024 is set to be a milestone year as we open our first stores in North America and we’re already seeing positive early signs of progress from our international growth over the past year which is giving us confidence for the year ahead."