InSpecs upbeat on H2 despite tariffs threat clouding H1 sales, earnings
The eyewear designer, manufacturer and distributor makes and markets its own brands and has licenses for Barbour, Joseph, Radley, Superdry, Temperley, Viktor&Rolf and others.
Its said group sales to the end of May were impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the prospects of US tariffs being implemented. This continued throughout June and as a result, group revenue for H1 dipped 2.9% to £100 million compared to H1 2024. On a constant currency basis, half-year revenue of £101.7 million was down 1.3%.
The board said it expects to report underlying core earnings (EBITDA) for H1 of around £8.2 million, down from £10.1 million on a year-ago like-for-like basis.
But it also said: 'We have a strong order book for H2 2025 and, once trade negotiations are settled, we expect our businesses affected by the tariffs to return to growth in the second half of the year.
'We have also secured the listing of key brands into the European and US markets. The operational efficiency and cost-saving plans, including the consolidation of our US, German and Swedish operations, are expected to yield additional savings in H2. As a result, we now expect full year revenue and underlying EBITDA to be in line with 2024 on a like-for-like basis"..
In other news, InSpecs said it has completed a strategic review of its lens manufacturing subsidiary Norville (20/20), and the group's now in discussions with a number of strategically aligned buyers about a sale of the business as a going concern. Meanwhile, its monthly losses have been materially reduced in Q2.
The company will release interim results on 18 September.
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