Rox turnover graph

Rox sales rise 6.4% as contribution from luxury watches increases

Scottish retail group also improves profitability despite hikes to its rents and marketing costs.

Rox (UK) Ltd sales increased by 6.4% to £15 million in the year to March. Operating profit also improved by 19% to just over £300,000 despite rising costs of rents, marketing and consultancy.

The business has four stores in Scotland — Edinburgh, Aberdeen and two in its home city of Glasgow —  along with units in Leeds and Newcastle.

The company’s portfolio of luxury watch brands has been expanding in recent years. It secured TAG Heuer for its Newcastle showroom in March, joining Audemars Piguet, Tudor, Hublot, Bremont, Chopard and Zenith at its other stores.

However jewellery, and in particular bridal, remains its core business, accounting for 75% of sales, according to co-founder Kyron Keogh.

In a statement accompanying Rox’s 2018 accounts, Mr Keogh says that all stores, except Aberdeen where the oil-based economy remains subdued, delivered year-on-year growth. Online sales, which account for around 10% of turnover, also rose slightly.

 

Rox operating profit graph

 

Trading since the end of the financial year in March has been “challenging”, Mr Keogh told WatchPro yesterday. “The first half of the year was subdued, but since summer has been stronger. The next five weeks are crucial,” he added.

Black Friday has displaced spending, Mr Keogh believes, but it did encourage people to come out shopping.

TAG Heuer, which went into the Newcastle store in March, has been phenomenal, while Hublot has been strong and AP is going from strength-to-strength.

Tudor’s most popular model of the year, the GMT that launched at Baselworld, has sold out before the Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear. “We ran out of product in November,” Mr Keogh reveals.

Rox plans to open another store in 2019, most likely in the Northwest of England, but Mr Keogh would not confirm which city.

 

Rox turnover growth

 

 

Rox stock value

 

 

Rox stock turns

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