Frasers finance boss Chris Wootton has said the Flannels owner is aiming to become the leading luxury retailer amid criticism it was looking to take its competitors out of the market.
The chief financial officer said the group wants to be “the strongest proposition in luxury and that’s why we’re investing so much in our store estate and platforms”.
The Flannels owner snapped up online designer department store Coggles from THG in June, adding to its growing retail portfolio.
Despite fears the retailer could fall to the same fate as MatchesFashion, which was placed into administration weeks after Frasers acquired the business, Wootton confirmed the brand will be “part of our luxury brand ecosystem”.
“We’ve spent a lot money on our luxury business, it’s very well invested great store estate, great platforms – we’re strong believers in the luxury market,” he says.
“It’s no secret that the luxury market as a whole is in a bit of a trough at the moment but it’s very cyclical.
“A lot of brands in luxury, heritage brands, have been around for decades. It will come back, and when it comes back, we’re very well positioned to take advantage. We are going to position ourselves as the leading luxury retailer.”
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It was reported last week that the group is considering making a bid for Yoox Net-a-Porter, as owner Richemont seeks to dispose of the online platform for “next to nothing” after a failed sale to Farfetch last year.
“I can’t talk about acquisitions,” says Wootton. “All I will say is that we are an acquisitive business. We look at many opportunities across many sectors, with varying degrees of interest.”
It’s not just retailers that Frasers has its eye on, with the group also reported to be in talks to acquire the Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter to add to its burgeoning property portfolio.
“The property strategy is really about unlocking the retail requirements for the sports and premium luxury businesses – that’s the core bit – and we can, in effect, underwrite the values of these freeholds by putting our fascias in them.”
“In a shopping centre, for instance, there’s a lot of empty space where Debenhams once were that no retailer can fill.
“We’re pretty much the only retailer in the UK to fill them – we’ve put Frasers in, Flannels in, Sports Direct in, and through being there as the anchor tenant, we can bring in new and good retailers and keep the well-performing retailers and increase the value.
“And if appropriate, we’ll recycle that capital back into the business to spend elsewhere,” he adds.
Frasers reported a 13.1% jump in profits this week in what it described as a “break-out year”.
The FTSE 100-listed firm posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of £544.8m in the year to 28 April – falling at the top end of its guidance range of £500m to £550m and up from £478m the year before – despite a 0.9% dip in total sales to £5.53bn.
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