Fashion
Harrods sales flat despite challenging condition, but profits hit by Fayed compensation
Published
October 5, 2025
Last week 2024 Selfridges’ results showed how the luxury slowdown and lack of VAT-free shopping for tourists remain a problem for high-end retailers. And on Sunday Harrods did the same, releasing its numbers ahead of its filing at Companies House.
Harrods Group (Holding) Limited saw gross transaction value (GTV) excluding VAT falling 2.4% to £2.198 billion for the year to February 2025, although turnover edged up 0.6% to just under £1.082 billion, which was below the Uk inflation figure. A year earlier, those numbers had risen 6.6% and 8.2%, respectively.
Operating profit (before exceptional items/pension loss on settlement) fell by 17% to £177.7 million and profit before tax was was actually a loss of £34.3 million, having been a profit of £111.5 million a year ago. Profit after tax was also a loss this time of £36.5 million. In the prior year, net profit was a positive figure of £76.7 million, although that was a fall from £135.8 million.
MD Michael Ward explained that the fall in operating profit reflected “reflecting investment in employee salaries and increased distribution costs”, while “continuing to demonstrate the strength of the fundamentals of our business”.
But why did it swing to such a large pre- and post-tax loss this time? Ward said the accounts include “significant exceptional costs… which have impacted profit. These costs include the strategic digital transformation of our enterprise resource planning system and a provision for redress and associated costs for survivors of historic abuse perpetrated by Harrods former Chairman and owner Mohamed Fayed. Compensation awards and interim payments began being issued to eligible survivors at the end of April 2025 and the scheme will remain open until 31 March 2026”.
The Mohamed Fayed scandal was bound to have a big impact but while it understandably continues to generate negative headlines, the turnover figure shows that shoppers clearly see a difference between the business as it is now and as it was then and it remains one of the world’s most prominent luxury retailers.
Ward focused on the positives saying that “2024 was a year of stable trade for Harrods [regarding] turnover… despite trading conditions in the luxury sector remaining challenging and once again showing outperformance by Harrods of the luxury industry as a whole”. That outperformance came in comparison to the latest Bain & Company and Fondazione Altagamma estimate that overall luxury spending dipped to €1.48 trillion globally in 2024.
Ward said that the “results demonstrate the resilience of Harrods’ business strategy of commitment to exceptional customer offerings and ongoing investment in this period across our Knightsbridge store including the continued redevelopment of our womenswear spaces and renovation of The Georgian restaurant”.
But the market remains challenging, Ward added, although he also said that “we remain confident in the strength of the business, and the resilience of the luxury sector, and that we will continue to drive progress towards longer-term growth and performance objectives”.
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A review of the trade and sustainable development provisions of the ITA is under way.
EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Kaja Kallas recently met Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alberto van Klaveren. Both co-chaired the first EU-Chile Joint Council under the Advanced Framework Agreement in Brussels.
The EU and Chile are committed to deepening their trade and investment relations under the Interim Trade Agreement, which came into force on February 1 and will remain in force until the new Advanced Framework Agreement has been fully ratified.
Both sides will continue to cooperate on ensuring reliable and sustainable supply chains, including through diversification and support to strategic investments.
The first EU-Chile Trade Council meeting was held under the new ITA, according to an EU release.
The EU is Chile’s third-largest trade partner and the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI).
Both sides will continue to cooperate on ensuring reliable and sustainable supply chains, including through diversification and support to strategic investments, a joint statement issued said.
Chile welcomed the interest of the EU in establishing a dialogue with the member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Both parties affirm their ambition to translate this dialogue into a shared agenda.
Both sides remain committed to ensuring the effective implementation of the Advanced Framework Agreement, and to achieving its full ratification.
The provisional application of the EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement began on June 1, 2025.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Published
November 30, 2025
Chanel has appointed A$AP Rocky as a new brand ambassador and debuted his tenure with a teaser video shot in New York co-starring Margaret Qualley.
The video appeared Sunday just 48 hours before Chanel’s couturier Michel Blazy will stage his debut collection of Métiers d’Art also in New York. It’s a unique line first created by Karl Lagerfeld that highlights the unique stable of artisans Chanel has assembled in such skills as embroidery, pleating, glove-making and costume jewelry.
Directed by Michel Gondry, the 2.49-minute short opens with the stars waking up in the bed of a walkup apartment in Williamsburg. Where, after a quick peck on her lover’s forehead, Qualley disappears into a tiny bathroom, before magically changing out of her blue nightie and reappearing in a red, white and blue houndstooth Chanel jacket, paired with pale blue pants, her hair in a chignon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=live
No sooner than she has disappeared, than A$AP leaps out of bed and descends the tenement building’s outside steel stairs and sets off on a mad dash after Qualley. This leads to him swimming under the Brooklyn Bridge, and running north through the Lower East Side, before finally catching up with Qualley at Astor Place station. All the action backed up my moody ambient music courtesy of Le Motel.
In between, the rapper and husband of Rihanna, manages to find time to stop in two discount stores to acquire pants and a blazer. Arriving just in time, to genuflect onto one knee, and hold out a small white Chanel box, containing one assumes a diamond engagement ring, at the station entrance. The sight of which leads the actress to leap into the air in paroxysm of joy, before the happy couple march arm and arm back into the subway.
And off one assumes to attend the Métiers d’Art show, which will be revealed on Tuesday, 8 p.m. NYC time.
Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Ms. Burgoyne joined lululemon in 2006 and became the company’s first President in 2020. Throughout her tenure, she has assumed roles of increasing responsibility and led the North America business through periods of rapid growth and expansion.
Lululemon Athletica has announced that Celeste Burgoyne, president of the Americas and global guest innovation, will leave at the end of December 2025 after 19 years with the brand.
The company will consolidate regional leadership and has appointed André Maestrini as president and chief commercial officer, giving him global oversight of stores, regions, digital channels and commercial strategy.
“We are grateful for Celeste’s leadership and significant contributions to lululemon’s business and culture over the past 19 years. She has been instrumental in growing our footprint in the Americas, creating high-quality guest experiences, and mentoring our teams across the organization,” said Calvin McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, lululemon. “I deeply appreciate her partnership and friendship, and we wish her all the best in the future.”
“My time at lululemon has been both inspiring and rewarding beyond belief,” said Ms. Burgoyne. “I am so proud of what we have accomplished as an organization since I joined in 2006 and know the team will take the company to even greater heights in the years to come. I look forward to continuing to support the brand as a lifelong fan.”
In conjunction with this announcement, lululemon has made the decision to consolidate regional leadership across the company and appoint André Maestrini as President and Chief Commercial Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Maestrini will continue to report directly to Mr. McDonald.
In this newly created role, Mr. Maestrini will provide integrated oversight of all of lululemon’s regions, stores, and digital channels globally. He will also oversee lululemon’s global commercial strategy with a focus on continued market expansion, revenue generation, and accelerating best practice sharing, across all regions including North America.
Mr. Maestrini joined lululemon in 2021 as Executive Vice President of International. In his current role, he has overseen lululemon’s operations in EMEA, APAC, and China Mainland, and has helped to more than quadruple lululemon’s international revenues.
“André has demonstrated a proven ability to unlock opportunities, advance our global expansion, and deliver growth across multiple markets,” said Mr. McDonald. “Leveraging operational discipline, deep guest insights, and extensive brand-building experience, André is the ideal person to lead our business across all markets, including North America, as we remain focused on delivering value for our guests, employees, and shareholders.”
Before joining lululemon, Mr. Maestrini spent 14 years at adidas in various senior roles across the globe. During this time, he served in a number of General Manager positions where he helped grow the company’s global sports categories and regional markets. Prior to adidas, Mr. Maestrini held marketing roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, and Kraft Jacobs Suchard.
Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)
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