Trading Update: Theo Paphitis Retail Group Year End March 2024
2025 is a major breakthrough year for Boux Avenue - delivering a positive EBITDA - driven by great product and impactful marketing around key trading moments
Key partnerships, developed across all brands, are supporting growth
Theo Paphitis, Owner and Chairman of Ryman, Robert Dyas, Boux Avenue and London Graphic Centre said:
“I am delighted to report that after building on its 2024 growth performance (year end 2024), 2025 has also delivered a major breakthrough year for Boux Avenue, taking the brand into profitability - representing over £7m improvement in the EBITDA in the last two financial years. This performance rewards the hard work of the management and wider team, the elevation and warm reception of the Boux Avenue product range and a targeted marketing strategy.
In addition, Boux’s partnerships with the likes of M&S, Next, Very and ASOS have also helped to extend the reach of the brand, and have been a key part of its success over the last few years.”
In addition, Theo said: “In my 30th year of owning heritage brand Ryman, it is encouraging to see footfall return to the city centres, and this has also helped to prove our new Ryman Design concept of great stores in key city locations. Fruitful partnerships, with the likes of Legami, also add reasons for a younger demographic to shop, in store and online, with Ryman. Services also continue to shine in store, driving footfall, with print services growing and providing much repeat business.
Building on the leverage and trust that comes with a heritage brand like Robert Dyas, we have seen near 10% growth through our extended range capabilities (dropship), enabling Robert Dyas to offer 180,000 products to our customer-base online, vs 6,000 in store. Dropship offers our customers higher value items such as garden sheds or furniture, cementing its reputation as the place to shop for home and garden.
In the 30 years of building the Theo Paphitis Retail Group, we remain committed to the multichannel model of retail - but it remains clear that location, location, location is everything in choosing new stores to open. In addition, the thing that has remained consistent is the passion and resilience of shopkeepers and as businesses face new challenges in the sector, I know that we will all dig deep and play with the cards we have been dealt.”
Boux Avenue:
Improved margins and marketing performance has resulted in an improvement in EBITDA for the year to March 2024 of just over £2m on 2023.
This positive momentum has continued into the current financial year and 2025 will see a major step forward in the financial performance of the business, resulting in 2025 being a major breakthrough year for Boux Avenue; delivering a positive EBITDA, driven by great product and strong impactful marketing around key trading moments, such as Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
The store portfolio resides in key locations and we are looking for further stores in prime shopping centre locations, as Theo Paphitis and the board remain committed to a multichannel approach - retaining the DNA of Boux that it is an online business, with stores.
Trading partnerships with the likes of M&S, ASOS, Next and Very continue to grow and be a key part of Boux Avenue’s success journey. The brand is seeking more UK and international partnerships to continue to build on this.
Ryman:
Financial Year End 2024, Ryman returned to a positive EBITDA for the first time post the Pandemic, with increased footfall of people returning to city centres and workplaces making an impact. EBITDA showed at a positive £1.6m, a year on year improvement of £3.3m showing that the direction of travel remains positive.
Stores grew 2.5% (like-for-like) with trading across the company increasing 4%, helping to mitigate increased trading costs related to property, rates and salary increases and investment in our colleagues through training and development.
Key product partnerships, such as with Legami, has helped to enhance the in-store experience and remains a reason to visit stores, particularly exposing the brand to a younger demographic.
New store concept, Ryman Design, currently at 5 stores, continues to perform strongly, with plans to accelerate the brand expansion in 2025 and beyond.
The services side of the business continues to grow at a strong pace, with key partnerships with the likes of DHL, Western Union and the extension of its own print services performing well via the new Ryman app.
2025 marks Theo Paphitis’s 30th year of owning Ryman, and continues to financially support the business, alongside the bank. Theo’s return as CEO to the business in 2022, has once again positively impacted the brand.
The iconic London Graphic Centre (LGC), part of the Ryman group, has continued to grow (in store like-for-like sales were up 11% in this period, with the overall business up 7%) showing that specialist retail and the Covent Garden location are a good mix.
Robert Dyas:
Dropship continues to be a great way to provide extended ranges to attract new customers, as well as continuing to serve our loyal customer base. We have seen continued growth within dropship, up 9.6% year on year and continuing to grow, with further investment in this channel.
Following an unseasonably wet summer period and external political and cost of living factors during this period, turnover decreased by 5.7% to £164.5m, for a 52wk period vs 53wk period last year. The EBITDA loss of £0.7m is however considered a resilient earnings result, given the trading backdrop and work continues to improve trading conditions through a focus on key product lines and increased dropship capacity.
The MyDyas reward scheme continues to build its database and resonate with customers, with 1.6m members (by December 2024) enabling great offers and the ability to be more targeted with hyper-local marketing activity.
Investment in new stores Saffron Walden and Bracknell has shown positive results, both returning a profit contribution in year 1. The business continues to look for appropriate sites to further expand their customer reach.
ENDS