Bravissimo group, the specialist intimates and swim business that was last month sold to Wacoal Europe, has filed its accounts for the year to the end of October 2023. It said that the period saw it fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic.

But that didn’t mean a sales surge. In fact, its sales ‘normalised’ after the peak trading period of summer 2022 when pent-up demand had led to customers buying swimwear in higher than usual volumes.

This meant revenue during the latest year was broadly flat at £58 million after reaching £58.2 million in 2022. But while there was little movement on the revenue front, strategic margin improvements led to growth in gross profit to £36.6 million from £34.5 million, taking the gross profit margin up to 63% from 59.3%.

The company also said that despite the challenging inflation environment, costs were well-controlled. Operating profit jumped to £2.9 million from £0.53 million and profit before tax was £2.9 million as well, up from £0.44 million. Net profit reached £2.2 million, up from £0.38 million in the previous year.

As mentioned, in September, Bravissimo was acquired by international lingerie and swimwear giant Wacoal, the two having had a longstanding relationship given that Wacoal owns Freya, Fantasie and Elomi, brands that Bravissimo has sold for some time.

Leanne Cahill remains at the helm with Bravissimo staying as a separate company with its own HQ and continuing to operate all its UK shops.