The latest trading update from Joules for the 26 weeks to 24 November 2019 saw Group revenue decreased by 1.4% to £111.6 million.

The company states revenue was impacted by the timing of the Black Friday trading period; Black Friday trading was in H2 in FY20, but in H1 in the prior year.

On a comparable 27-week period, including Black Friday in both periods, Group revenue increased by 1.3%. There was also an increase in Retail revenue of 3.1%.

Furthermore, as announced on 10 January, Joules experienced a disappointing Christmas trading period.

This was due to online stock availability issues. Also, non-recurring costs associated with supply chain initiatives and China-US tariffs, which impacted full-year profit expectations.

Commenting is chief executive officer, Nick Jones. “Since the period end, we have updated on our disappointing Christmas trading performance, resulting from a stock availability issue impacting our online channel.

“We have identified the root cause and have taken steps to rebalance the allocation of stock between channels for s/s 2020 as well as strengthen our underlying processes.

“I am reassured by the performance we saw in the retail channels where we had good stock availability. And by our continued online traffic growth, evidencing the strong customer demand which continues to exist for the Joules brand.

Ecommerce now represents over 50% of Retail revenue.

“Since joining Joules in September, I have been impressed by the strength of the brand, the flexibility of our multiple routes to market and our fantastic teams.

“I am confident in the opportunities for long-term sustainable growth of the Joules brand across multiple territories.”

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