Diesel slips into red as challenging conditions slow growth at fashion brand’s UK arm
The UK arm of fashion brand Diesel slipped into the red in 2023 as the challenging economic conditions impacted its finances.
The brand, which is part of the wider OTB Group, has posted a pre-tax loss of £280,347 for the 12 months after having reported a pre-tax profit of £12,599 in the prior year.
However, its turnover increased from £19.6m to £20.1m over the same period, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.
As well as Diesel, Italian multinational OTB is the parent company of brands such as Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori and Viktor&Rolf.
A statement signed off by the board said: “Despite the trading conditions in the UK continuing to be challenging, the company recorded an increase in revenue for the year of approximately two per cent.”
It added: “Over the last year, the growth of the global economy has slowed due to the increase of geopolitical tensions that determine dangers of conflict escalation and uncertainty in the markets.
“As well as this, the persistence of restrictive monetary policies due to the high rate of inflation has had an impact.
“To combat inflation, central banks have progressively raised interest rates to curb price increases.
“This has led to a reduction in consumption and, more generally, in demand.
“The inflation rate, despite being down compared to the values of 2022 and 2021, is still above the two per cent target and upper limit set by central banks.
“The company and the OTB Group have put in place all appropriate measures to effectively limit the critical issues related to the socio-economic context; the possible impacts of our business and markets are continuously monitored too.”
In the year, Diesel’s turnover from the sale of its products increased from £17.3m to £18.1m but its revenue from wholesale service fees fell from £2.3m to £1.9m.
The average number of people employed by the business during the year also decreased from 221 to 201.