Castore, the British sportswear brand endorsed by Sir Andy Murray and the billionaire Issa brothers, has recorded a loss despite its revenue increasing by £75m.
The company, headquartered in Manchester, disclosed a pre-tax loss of £28.8m for the year ending 4 February, 2024, in recent filings with Companies House, as reported by .
This figure represents a downturn from the previous year's pre-tax profit of £14.6m.
Nonetheless, Castore saw its turnover rise sharply from £115m to £190.3m during the period.
The accounts reveal that Castore faced extraordinary costs totalling over £24.4m throughout the year, which contributed to the loss.
Excluding these exceptional expenses, the business experienced a significant reduction in operating profit, dropping from £16.5m to just £399,148.
Notable among these costs were £2.1m allocated for 'Warehouse Consolidation', £9m for stock provision, £6.3m related to fundraising expenses, and £3.8m to cover 'onerous contracts'.
Supply chain issues hit Castore
In a statement endorsed by the board, it was remarked: "The company implemented a strategy to improve the efficiency of its supply chain during the period, which included the consolidation of some of its º£½ÇÊÓƵ warehouses."
The report further acknowledged: "This presented challenges to the business, which adverse effects on both our operations and our customers' ordering experience."
The company acknowledged: "Management mitigated these impacts by increasing staffing levels temporarily and reducing promotional activities during the period, however, trading was adversely affected over the second half of the period."
Castore also stated: "The company also incurred additional costs to ensure customers' orders were fulfilled and the company took a significant write off of stock as a result of stock missing the optimum clearance window."
However, the business added, "Management are confident that the transition will facilitate future efficiency improvements and that all short term issues are now resolved."
In the 12-month period, the average number of employees at the company grew from 399 to 517.
Castore's turnover in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ increased from £79.8m to £106.1m, while in Europe, sales surged from £25.3m to £59.6m.
The business also reported a rise in sales in North America, from £3.1m to £4.4m, and a significant increase in the rest of the world, from £6.6m to £20.1m.
