Shein’s UK sales hit £1.55bln in 2023 ahead of planned IPO
The annual revenue from the UK, Shein's third-largest market, was 38% more than it had previously reported for a 16-month period to the end of 2022
Shein's British business made £1.55 billion ($2 billion) in revenue in 2023, a filing by the online fast-fashion group showed on Tuesday, as it prepares for a listing in London.
The annual revenue from the UK, Shein's third-largest market, was 38% more than it had previously reported for a 16-month period to the end of 2022.
The group's rapid growth, fuelled by its low-cost business model of sending parcels to customers worldwide straight from factories in China, has disrupted the budget fashion industry and put pressure on incumbents such as Sweden's H&M and London-listed Asos and Boohoo.
Shein, valued at $66 billion in a fundraising last year, is set to hold informal investor meetings in the coming weeks for a planned London IPO, sources said last week, as the group awaits UK regulatory approval.
A multibillion-dollar initial public offering would be a boost for London, which has struggled to attract big company listings in the wake of Brexit.
Shein Distribution UK Ltd previously reported sales of £1.122 billion over the 16 months from September 6, 2021 to the end of 2022. It did not give a figure for the calendar year 2022.
The UK business booked a pretax profit of £24.4 million in 2023, doubling from £12.2 million over the previous 16 months.
Shein, which sells $5 tops and $10 dresses, does not publicly report its global results, but Coresight Research estimates it made $32.2 billion in sales worldwide in 2023, and that it could hit $50 billion in sales this year.
Britain was Shein's third-biggest market in 2023 after the US and Germany, as per GlobalData estimates.
However, Shein's footprint in the country is small: the British unit hired an additional 19 people in 2023 for a total of 33 employees by the end of the year. The company's 2023 wage bill was £2.5 million, and it paid £5.7 million in tax.