Beauty specialist Warpaint London’s first-half figures on Wednesday showed the supplier of colour cosmetics and owner of the W7, Technic, Skin & Tan, Super Facialist, Dirty Works and Fish Soho brands continuing to prosper on the revenue front — on the surface at least.
W7
But the company’s shares fell more than 20% at one point as it cut its guidance due to business headwinds and as investors digested the numbers that showed the sales rise was down to its acquired Brand Architekts business and without that, the picture was less rosy.
Its revenue rose 8% in the six months to the end of June, reaching £49.3 million. But it had earlier forecast sales of £50 million-£52 million. Its gross profit margin increased from 42.5% to 45%, but adjusted EBITDA was down 5% at £10.8 million and profit before tax fell a massive 41% to £6.4 million.
The latter figure predominantly reflected £4.6 million of non-cash losses on foreign exchange forward contracts, of which £2.7 million were unrealised at 30 June, “a £3.9 million gain as a result of the ‘bargain purchase’ (negative goodwill) of Brand Architekts and £1.3 million of exceptional costs associated with the acquisition” that it made in February.
The gross profit rise was due to “successful launches of new product lines, sourcing and volume savings”.
The Brand Architekts buy contributed to UK revenue rising 15.9% to £18 million while international revenue increased 3.2% to £31.3 million.
Brand Architekts sales were £6.1 million and represented 12% of overall group revenue in the period, while the company said it’s “already benefitting from the expansion of [the acquisition’s] brands into a number of group customers”.
Highlights of the half included the implementation of an inflationary price increase to all customers, which will have a greater impact in H2.
And it said Rest of World sales were up by 144% to £3.6 million, including the launch of an expanded range “with a significant Australian customer”.
Direct online sales, including £1.3 million from Brand Architekts brands, were up 48% to £3.4 million representing 6.8% of group sales.
Looking ahead, significant store rollouts for H2 have been agreed. In theUK, Superdrug started rolling out W7 into 140 new stores in June and this is ongoing. Tesco is undertaking a 150-store expansion of the group’s W7 impulse offering, and a gifting offering is going into 350 Boots stores at Christmas for the first time alongside an expansion of accessories into 250 additional stores.
In Europe, Tigota in Italy is launching a range of products in 200 stores with a capsule collection going into an additional 400 stores. Etos in the Netherlands is expected to expand its product assortment in all 546 stores with a permanent fixture and an enhanced range in selected stores.
And in the US, it’s expanding the W7 range to a further 399 stores with CVS, which started in August.
The company added that group salesfor the eight months to 31 August, including £7.7 million from the Brand Architekts brands, were £67million, up from £63.5 million, a year ago.
There are clearly challenges for the business as without the acquired brands, sales would have been lower than a year ago.
One challenge is the administration filing of the UK-based Bodycare chain, which was a long-term customer of the group’s Technic products. Amounts due from the customer at the end of the first half totalled £0.5 million and “have been provided for in full”. But there’s a further £0.3 million due from trading after the period end. And future revenue from the customer is now, understandably, “uncertain”.
As a result of the above, along with an increasingly weak UK consumer environment and an uncertain US market given the recent tariff disruption, for the 2025 full year, the board now expects the company to achieve revenues of between £107 million and £112 million, and adjusted EBITDA of between £23.5 million and £25.5 million.
Birks announced on Friday a 16.2% uptick in half-year sales to $93.1 million, on the back of the Canadian jeweller’s acquisition of European Boutique, and a strong retail performance.
Birks
The Montreal-based company also logged an increase in third-party branded timepieces across multiple brands for the 26 weeks ending September 27, in addition to gains in sales of Birks branded jewelry and third-party branded jewelry.
Meanwhile, comparable store sales rose 6.3%, attributable to strong sales in all product categories, particularly in third-party branded timepieces, but also in Birks branded jewelry and third-party branded jewelry, the company added.
In light of the strong sales performance, Birks narrowed its earnings loss during the six months to an operating loss of $0.2 million, compared to a reported operating loss of $0.3 million in the prior-year period.
“Our net sales, gross profit and comparable store sales for the first half of Fiscal 2026 are higher than the corresponding period in Fiscal 2025 due in part to the acquisition of the European business but also due to our strong retail performance, which speaks to the strength of our product offerings, both in terms of our Birks branded products and our third-party branded watches and jewelry,” said Niccolò Rossi di Montelera, executive chairman of the board and interim CEO.
“I would like to thank our teams for their dedication and hard work. The growth achieved in the first half of Fiscal 2026 is a testament of our commitment to our customers and I am grateful for the unwavering efforts of all our employees which contributed to these results and the successful integration of the European stores.”
In July, Birks acquired the luxury watch and jewellery business of European Boutique from its founders, the Sutkiewicz family, for a purchase price of $9 million.
NYC-based footwear brand Koio is relaunching The Primo, the high-top sneaker that debuted the brand in 2015, in a limited-edition collaboration with leatherworker and YouTube creator Rose Anvil for its tenth anniversary.
Koio relaunches the Primo with Rose Anvil. – Koio
The updated Primo maintains Koio’s original Italian build standards, with internal upgrades including a full leather Strobel board, leather toe cap and counter, and a gum outsole. The upper is crafted from vegetable-tanned, untreated Vachetta calf leather sourced from Italian tannery Conceria Annarita, allowing the sneaker to naturally darken and develop a unique patina with wear.
“Reintroducing the Primo for our ten-year anniversary is incredibly meaningful,” said Johannes Quodt, co-founder of Koio. “It was the shoe that launched the brand, so bringing it back with Rose Anvil’s technical rigor felt like the right way to honor its legacy. The Vachetta leather will age beautifully, making this one of the most personal and character-rich versions we’ve ever created.”
The Primo first debuted in February 2015 at Koio’s Bowery pop-up, created by the founders as their ideal high-top sneaker. The silhouette remained a core style for five years before the brand shifted focus as its range expanded. Koio continued to receive requests from collectors and longtime customers to bring back the original design, prompting the reissue as part of the brand’s tenth-anniversary celebrations.
“The Primo was already a well-built sneaker, but replacing every internal synthetic component with leather significantly elevates the craftsmanship,” said Weston Kay, Rose Anvil. “Using untreated Vachetta leather means the shoe doesn’t just look good out of the box but it continues to improve over time.”
Koio’s work with Rose Anvil follows the success of their first collaboration—the Koio x Rose Anvil Capri Triple White—which sold out in less than 24 hours.
The limited-edition Primo is priced at $325 and is now available exclusively online.
Victoria’s Secret & Co. on Friday reported better-than-expected sales in the third quarter, prompting the U.S. lingerie giant to raise its full year outlook.
Victoria’s Secret raises full-year outlook on strong Q3. – Victoria’s Secret
The Ohio-based company said sales for the three months ending November 1 totalled $1.472 billion, up 9% from the third quarter of 2024 and above its previously communicated guidance range of $1.390 billion to $1.420 billion. Meanwhile, total comparable sales for the third quarter of 2025 increased 8%.
Victoria’s Secret recouped its earnings, reporting a net loss of $37 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $56 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2024.
“With two iconic brands, Victoria’s Secret and Pink, a curated product assortment, high-emotion marketing and a relentless customer focus, we are reinforcing our leadership in global intimates and beauty,” said Victoria’s Secret & Co. CEO, Hillary Super.
“As we continue to advance our Path to Potential strategy, we are accelerating global growth, elevating brand distinctiveness, and unlocking greater value across our ecosystem to drive long-term profitable growth.”
Looking ahead, the company is now forecasting full-year net sales in the range of $6.450 billion to $6.480 billion, compared to prior guidance of $6.330 billion to $6.410 billion for the full year 2025. Adjusted net income per diluted share is estimated to be in the range of $2.40 to $2.65, compared to prior guidance of $1.80 to $2.20.
For the fourth quarter, the company is forecasting net sales to be in the range of $2.170 billion to $2.200 billion compared to last year’s fourth quarter net sales of $2.106 billion.
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