Dublin-headquartered e-commerce company ESW, formerly eShop World, saw revenues rise 28% to €1.24bn and EBITDA increase 3% to €41m last year.
The group said it saw strong growth in all markets as it added €271m in turnover, but profit after tax fell 9.9%, from €25.4m to €22.9m, following significant investment in staff and technology.
The group employed 620 people at the end of 2021, an increase of more than 200 since the start of 2020, and it expects headcount to exceed 1,000 by the end of this year as it continues to hire following its June acquisition of Scalefest.
Some 350 people joined ESW with the absorption of the Los Angeles-based end-to-end e-commerce solution provider.
“We have seen a continuation of robust growth in 2022 and are on track to deliver full year revenues of approximately €1.5bn," said Tommy Kelly, CEO of ESW.
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"We continue to hire talent in Ireland and overseas which we see as critical in scaling to a €5bn business over the coming years."
ESW is targeting annual revenues of €5bn by 2027, and the direct-to-consumer company had added high calibre global brands such as DKNY, Charlotte Tilbury, BCBG, Aspinal of London, and The Webster in its efforts to achieve its goal.
"The growth momentum of recent years – before, during and ‘post COVID’ - shows an inexorable shift to e-commerce that shows no sign of abating," said Kelly.
"Our continuing investment focus has enabled ESW to scale at pace during the pandemic years but more importantly, to support the ambitious international growth aspirations of our brand partners.
"The recent addition of Scalefast strongly complements our speed to market and market reach credentials whilst adding data analytics and the ability to deliver highly targeted and localised Direct-to Consumer brand campaigns.
ESW is owned by Asendia Group, a joint venture between La Poste and Swiss Post, and now operates in 200 markets, with offices in Ireland, the US, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
(Pic: Getty Images)
