MADE.com confirms Nicola Thompson as permanent CEO as retailer sees results beaten by freight inflation
Retail giant MADE.com has confirmed this morning that Nicola Thompson, the current interim CEO, is set to become the permanent CEO with immediate effect.
It comes after former chief Philippe Chainieux left the post last month because of family reasons.
Susanne Given, Chair of MADE, commented on Thompson’s appointment: “The Board is delighted to confirm Nicola’s appointment as CEO. She is an impressive and compassionate leader and the right person to lead the business into its next phase of growth.”
The company also reported its full-year results, with revenue up 50 per cent year-on-year to £372m, with deferred revenue at period end at £56m. Made.com said this was remaining at elevated levels due to extended lead-times driven by the global supply chain challenges.
Gross margins were also impacted by global freight inflationary pressures, down 694bps compared to prior year. However, excluding freight costs, gross margin improved 193bps on better full price sales mix, higher input margin and foreign exchange benefit.
Reported losses before tax were £31.4m, including one-off IPO related profit and loss charges of £5.3m, compared to £14.6m for the same period in 2020.
“I am proud of the excellent growth and strategic progress the business has delivered since its IPO. We have a strong strategic plan in place to drive further and continuous growth. We will build on MADE’s position as the leading digital destination for home through investing in the customer experience, the further development of our curated homewares range and growing the brand internationally. The strength of the brand and the management team combined with its strong cash position means MADE is uniquely placed to act on the opportunities ahead”, Given added with regard to the results.
Following the softness of consumer demand so far in 2022, MADE announced it was no longer anticipating any tailwind from the market in 2022.
Growth will be driven by shifting its customer proposition, through improved experience, broader product choice and through enhanced reach.
On this basis, it expects gross sales £500-540m (up 15-25 per cnet year-on-year), with higher growth in H2 than H1 due to 2021 comparative phasing.
Full year revenue is expected to be circa £465-500m (up 25-35 per cent year on year) with positive adjusted EBITDA between £5 and £15m, assuming global supply chain disruptions normalise by year-end 2022, but freight costs remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.