Pandora: UK profit slumps as sales slip after record high
Profit at the UK arm of luxury jewellery brand Pandora has fallen significantly as its sales slipped back from a record high.
The London-headquartered division has posted a pre-tax profit of £14.9m for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show.
The latest total comes after Pandora achieved a pre-tax profit of £61.1m in 2023.
Over the same period, the company’s turnover also fell from £448m to £441.3m.
A statement signed off by the board said: “The business has maintained a solid platform during 2024 with good sales given the wider market context and continues to focus on maintaining the brand image through the sale of high quality and fashionable jewellery.”
On its future, Pandora added: “The directors expect that UK consumers’ discretionary spending and general rates of consumption will continue to come under pressure over the short to medium term which cold have a negative impact on future growth.
“The directors aim to counter this impact and drive growth within the company based on four key pillars, namely brand, design, personalisation and distribution.
“These growth pillars will be delivered throughs strong foundational capabilities covering people, digitalisation, scale, sustainability and operational excellence.”
During the year the number of people Pandora UK employed increased from 2,500 to 2,630.
Pandora hit by cyber attack
The results come after City PM reported in August that Pandora had become the latest retailer to fall victim to a cyber attack.
The company said “some customer information was accessed through a third-party platform that we use”.
At the time, it added: “Only very common types of data were copied by the attacker – specifically name, birthdate, and email address.
“We’d like to stress that no passwords, credit card details or similar confidential data were involved in this incident.”
For the same financial year, the wider Pandora group said its organic growth was 13 per cent, above the already-upgraded guidance of 11 per cent to 12 per cent.
This comprised seven per cent life-for-life sales growth and five per cent network expansion, with 236 net new stores opened in 2024, Pandora said.
Revenue and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) both grew by 13 per cent to reach DKK 31.7bn (£3.54bn) and DKK 8bn (0.89bn), respectively.
Sales in the US, which account for just over 30 per cent of total sales at Pandora, grew by nine per cent in the fourth quarter.
Europe, which makes up another third, saw flat growth, while combined sales elsewhere saw growth of 11 per cent.