An influential group of retailers including M&S and Tesco has warned the Treasury at least 300,000 retail jobs would disappear by 2030 due to unsustainable cost hikes this year.
The newly revamped Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA) has warned the government that retailers are facing “a perfect storm” of additional costs from this April. It said a higher National Insurance bill, a new recycling tax and higher business rates means they expect one in 10 shop floor workers to leave retail by 2028.
The RJA, which employs just under a third of those working in the sector, equal to almost one million people, says the business rate plans threatened to hamper retail investment in the UK, lead to store closures and ultimately mean more workers leave the sector.
It added that thousands of stores were at risk of a heavy tax blow under the changes, saying that much of the impact was likely to be felt in more impoverished communities.
The body is calling for the government to give stores an exemption from the higher rate business rates multiplier, which is applied to the rateable value of properties to calculate the tax due.
A spokesman for the RJA said: “This change would provide much-needed relief for at-risk stores, enabling them to reinvest in their businesses, retain staff, and grow their footprint on the high street.”
The warning follows M&S chief executive Stuart Machin saying over the weekend that “retail is being raided like a piggy bank and it’s unacceptable”.
Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, also said the government needed to be careful over reforms: “There are big parts of the UK where the supermarket plays a fundamental role at the heart of a community, and we need to make sure that the reform of business rates makes the ongoing viability of those locations really clear.”
Last month, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said that the business rate changes put big town centre stores at risk, despite them being “often critical to maintaining the integrity of that high street. The risk is that more and more of those large retail sites become unviable.”
However, a Treasury spokesman said: “We delivered a once-in-a-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean. Now we are focused on going further and faster to kickstart economic growth so working people have more money in their pockets.
“We’re levelling the playing field for high street businesses by permanently cutting business rates and removing the £110,000 cap for over 280,000 retail, hospitality and leisure business properties, while also capping corporation tax.”
Global fashion retailer H&M has announced plans to open its first store in El Salvador in the second half of 2025 through franchise partner Hola Moda.
H&M to open first store in El Salvador. – H&M
The move marks a continued expansion in the Latin American market as the company strengthens its presence across the region.
H&M currently operates in several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica. The upcoming launch in El Salvador will further cement the brand’s footprint in Central America.
In addition to the El Salvador opening, H&M previously announced plans to enter Brazil with its first store and online platform by the end of 2025.
In 2024, the retailer opened 88 new stores globally and continued its efforts to revamp key locations across the U.S., Canada, and Ecuador. It currently operates in 77 store markets and 60 online markets.
DBG Group has acquired Australian beauty brand MCoBeauty, with an approximate valuation of AUD$1 billion.
MCoBeauty
DBG Group, owned by billionaire Dennis Basta, previously took a 50 percent stake of MCoBeauty in 2022. The owner of fellow beauty brands Nude by Nature and Esmi skin Minerals has taken full ownership of the dupe beauty brand, according to local media reports.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded by Shelley Sullivan in 2020, MCoBeauty describes itself as Australia’s fastest growing masstige beauty brand, amassing a cult following for its affordable beauty products, recognised by their baby pink packaging.
“When I started MCoBeauty, the market was dominated by the big global beauty icons Revlon, Maybelline and Rimmel,” said Sullivan. “We had just six MCoBeauty SKUs on the shelves and I told someone in the industry that my goal was to break into the global masstige beauty space. They told me it was not possible. This set the challenge in my mind — and I just went for it. There really is nothing like being told you can’t do something to give you drive, and for that I’m grateful.”
Prior to MCoBeauty, Sullivan launched her higher-priced ModelCo beauty brand, which logged successful collaborations with a range of celebrities including the likes of Hailey Bieber, Celeste Barber, Elle Macpherson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Karl Lagerfeld.
In April last year, MCoBeauty made its United States debut exclusively at Kroger Family of Stores, launching more than 250 beauty and skincare products in-store across the American retail chain.
Mytheresa results are always closely watched and now that it’s buying YNAP, it’s even more in the spotlight. So what did Tuesday’s report tell us about what will this year become just about the top global luxury e-tailer?
DR
For a start, its performance is improving and it’s getting closer to absolute profitability. It saw double-digit net sales growth with a 13.4% year-on-year rise in Q2 of FY25 (the 12 months to June this year). And it enjoyed continuous US expansion with 17.6% net sales growth in the quarter.
Also, there was “GMV per Top Customer” growth of 13.6 % and average order value rose 9% to €736. The company puts a lot of time and money into special top customer events and in making big-spenders feel that splashing the cash on its site is really worth it. For the latest quarter think ‘money-can’t buy’ experiences in partnership with luxury brands, including a mountain experience with Zegna and anexclusive two-day Nordic winter experience with Moncler Grenoble in Oslo!
The numbers
So, let’s get into the details. The quarter that covered October to December saw net sales rising to €223 million from €196.6 million. During the first half as a whole net sales had risen 10.6%, so the Q2 13.4% rise means growth accelerated in the second quarter in particular.
Overall general merchandise value (GMV) increased 11.9% to €244.7 million in Q2.
Profits-wise, it saw a strong gross profit margin of 50.9%, a rise of 110 bps, while adjusted EBITDA was €16.2 million, up from €7.5 million a year ago, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.3%.
Adjusted operating income for the quarter was €12.2 million, much better than €3.7 million 12 months earlier.
On an absolute basis, the company remains loss-making, but the net loss this time was only €4.7 million, narrower than €5.8 million a year ago and much lower than the €28.2 million loss made for the first half as a whole.
As mentioned, the company enjoyed progress in the US and among its highest-spending customers as it launched exclusive capsule collections and pre-launches in collaboration with Khaite, Alaia, Saint Laurent, Loewe, Gucci, Miu Miu, Moncler, Bottega Veneta and more.
It continued the expansion of its fine jewellery offer with the launch of the Bulgari brand online, “supporting ongoing top customer focus and high-value item growth”.
It all means that for the full year, the company (which is changing its name to LuxExperience to reflect its multi brand status when it acquires YNAP) expects GMV and net sales growth in the range of 7% to 13%. It also expects an adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 3% to 5%.
CEO Michael Kliger said of all this: “We are very pleased with our results in a still-volatile macro environment. With strong, accelerating revenue growth and positive, significantly improved adjusted EBITDA margin in the second quarter, we continued our very positive business momentum from the previous quarters and have achieved a significant step up in financial performance in H1 of fiscal year 2025 compared to H1 of fiscal year 2024.
“We have reaffirmed our leadership position in terms of financial performance and reputation in digital luxury. Our clear focus on the high-spending, wardrobe-building top customers sets us apart and allows us to win market share and grow profitably. Strong Top Customer revenue growth, an outstanding average order value and excellent customer satisfaction scores demonstrate our relentless customer focus which is a key success factor for Mytheresa.”
Entertainment8 years ago