By Anthony O. Goriainoff
Watches of Switzerland Group said Wednesday that its revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 and for the full year rose, and that it anticipates an improvement of the business environment in the second half of the current fiscal year.
The London-listed luxury-watch retailer said that for the fourth quarter, which ended April 30, it expects to report a 22% rise in revenue at reported rates to 371 million pounds ($463.2 million). Group revenue for the fiscal year is expected to be GBP1.54 billion, a 25% rise at reported rates.
Adjusted pre-IFRS 16 earnings before interest and taxes–a metric which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–for the year are expected to be in the GBP163 million-GBP167 million range.
The company said that luxury watch revenue in the year rose 28% and was driven by increases in average selling price and volume, with luxury jewellery revenue 10% higher.
The company said that it expects a modest sales decline in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 before normalizing in the following quarter due to product intake timing and strong prior-year comparatives.
The company guided for fiscal 2024 revenue to be in the GBP1.65 billion-GBP1.70 billion range.
Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com
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