Boden’s profit drops as yummy mummies push prams elsewhere
Middle class clothing retailer Boden has been losing its shine somewhat as its accounts show flat sales and falling profits.
According to Boden's most recent accounts, profits dropped 25 per cent last year, down from £32m to £23.9m. Sales stayed level for the third year in a row at £283m. Boden's net assets also fell, down from £52m to £33.4m.
The mail-order retailer was started in 1991 by former Warburg banker Johnnie Boden and its clothes – marketed at so-called yummy mummies – have been worn by the likes of Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama.
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But Boden's celebrity clientele couldn't save it from a "disappointing" first half in what it described as an "increasingly competitive" trading environment. The statement from directors accompanying the accounts was light on enthusiasm, describing last year's trading as "adequate" and "reasonable".
Boden and his family still own around 60 per cent of the company and will have receive most of the £7.9m dividend that was paid out by the company last year.