Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Victoria Beckham’s luxury fashion group reported narrowing losses with annual revenue rising more than 50 per cent last year, thanks to demand for its £850 dresses and £390 jeans.
Victoria Beckham Holdings Limited said on Wednesday its loss before tax fell to £2.9mn in 2023 from £3.1mn a year earlier. Revenues defied a broader luxury sector slowdown to rise by more than half to £89.1mn, the third consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth.
The company reported positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of £1.8mn, up from £200,000 in 2022.
Performance at the label, which has made a loss every year since its launch in 2008, has improved in recent years although it has received a number of cash injections to help fuel growth and pay down debt.
Most recently the company, owned by Beckham and her husband, XIX Management and private equity firm NEO Investment Partners, received two cash injections from shareholders of £6.9mn — one in 2023 and one in 2024 — for inventory investment and to meet working capital requirements. According to the latest set of results, the fashion and beauty venture will continue to need more cash injections to implement its strategy.
VBHL has also been boosted by Marie Leblanc, who joined the company in 2018 as product director before becoming chief executive. She and Victoria Beckham restructured the business to merge the brand’s luxury and contemporary lines, cutting jobs and pausing production of some items along the way.
“Having successfully repositioned the business, 2023 was another very strong year of progress for the company and we continue to see a healthy growth trajectory as we look to establish Victoria Beckham as a global luxury house,” said LeBlanc, adding that the company had built a loyal consumer base following in part from being present at Paris Fashion Week.
She told the Financial Times this year that the group’s ambition was to “reach £100mn [revenue] in the next three years”.
The group launched an eponymous beauty brand in 2019, led by Katie Beauchamp, who previously co-founded Birchbox. Last year Victoria Beckham Beauty also expanded into perfumes.
The company has also explored partnerships, releasing for example a limited-edition capsule collection with fashion retailer Mango and a capsule range of jointly branded watches with Breitling.
The fashion side of the business has also expanded its leather goods offering after launching bags in 2022. Leather goods now make up 20 per cent of online sales.