Andy Murray-backed North West sportswear brand Castore has almost doubled its profits for the year to January 31, 2023.
The firms’s latest filing with Companies House reveals that UK sales increased from £42.5m to £79.8m in the year, while European sales rocketed from £895,974 to £25.3m. North American turnover was up too, from £1m to £3.1m, while sales rose from £4.3m to £6.6m in the rest of the world. Pre-tax profits went from £8m to £14.6m while total turnover more than doubled from £48.8m to £115m. In May Castore increased its turnover forecast for 2023 by 30% to $250m.
The Manchester-based business, which was initially founded in Liverpool by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, also increased headcount from 174 to 399 in the year.
Investors in the challenger sportswear brand include billionaire Asda owners the Issa brothers, tennis star Murray, New Look founder Tom Singh, PureGym co-founders Peter Roberts and Brian Scurrah and Eric Fellner, the co-chairman of Working Title Film. The company has a number high-profile kit sponsorship deals with the likes of England Cricket, Red Bull Racing, Ineos Grenadiers, Rangers FC, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, although Newcastle Utd recently ended its kit deal following controversy over its new “wet look” kits, while Aston Villa have entered negotiations with the brand over their own kit deal for the same reason.
The board said in a statement that its digital offering was the key driver of its impressive performance: “The company’s plan is to increasingly focus on digital growth whilst maintaining a strong focus on partnering with world class sport teams who enhance our brand awareness and desirability.,” the statement said. “Performance has continued to be strong due to the growth across the digital, store and wholesale channels. In addition, we will continue to grow our wholesale channel and expand internationally.”
It added: “Our digital channels remain the driving force of the business, allowing us to establish deep relationships with consumers and delivering strong brand engagement and loyalty. We did also capitalise on highly favourable market conditions in the rental market to open new stores in the period, in line with our growing brand awareness. Our omni-channel presence continues to evolve as we further expand our partnerships with world class retailers.”
