Kurt Geiger’s earnings show luxury still sells
LUXURY shoemakers Kurt Geiger posted record annual profits suggesting the market for designer footwear is undimmed despite the global economic downturn.
The company said turnover increased 17 per cent to £162m for the year to 30 January with earnings up 21.2 per cent to £14.7m from £12.1m last year. Like for like sales also increased eight per cent.
It added that sales with its store partners at Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty were at a record high. Kurt Geiger is now the number one high-end shoe retailer in the UK and Europe selling 10 pairs of shoes every minute.
Last year saw the company created a further 275 jobs as it opened 12 new stores bringing the total number to 63 worldwide. It also launched a further 49 concessions across the UK and Ireland, which included 30 Debenhams stores.
Neil Clifford, chief executive of Kurt Geiger, said: “In the face of a challenging economic backdrop Kurt Geiger has performed very strongly and in 2010 we have expanded our headcount and rolled out new stores across the UK with more in the pipeline for the second half of 2010.”