Billionaire retailer Philip Green marked his two-year anniversary in charge of high street giant Bhs by reporting the group’s highest profits today.
Green said there was now a “very solid platform” for the business after operating profits soared 202% to £100.2m in the year to 30 March.
But he confirmed the chain’s chief executive Terry Green would be leaving to pursue other interests in the retail sector.
He revealed Terry (no relation to Philip) wanted to buy Bhs last November, but that he had decided to remain in charge of the 74-year-old group.
“I didn’t need to sell it,” he said. “I like what I do everyday.”
Philip Green, the 13th richest man in the UK, bought Bhs from Storehouse two years ago for a fifth of its estimated £1bn market value.
He and Terry, the former chief executive of Debenhams, have led a turnaround after refreshing the stores, saving cash and finding new suppliers.
Sales in the recent financial year rose 7% to £851.3m, as like-for-like growth, which excludes income from new stores, hit 5.4%.
Like-for-like womenswear sales were up by a bumper 25% as Bhs reaped the benefits of a move to improve the quality and styling of the ranges.
Green said Bhs, which operates 160 stores across the UK, had taken market share from all of its rivals during the year.
He added: “We are very confident and we are growing nicely. I think we have managed to get the business on a very solid platform.”
He put the retailer’s success down to being more efficient on the supply side and “giving the customers what they want”.
A pretax profit figure was not disclosed but Green said it was “not a million miles away” from the operating level.
Like-for-like growth in the first seven weeks of the current financial year, to 18 May, improved to 5.7% and Green downplayed fears of a slowdown.
“At this time of year it’s all down to the weather, interest rates are less of a factor than they used to be,” he said.
Terry Green has already been linked with a deal to acquire Rubicon, the owner of retail brands Principles and Racing Green.
He is understood to have been frustrated by Philip’s reluctance to float Bhs on the London Stock Exchange.
Referring to a possible flotation of Bhs today, Philip said: “It’s never on and it’s never off.”
EGi News 22/05/02
