Profits at Dyson have fallen by nearly half despite selling 20 million products – a record high.
The vacuum technology business behind beauty devices such as the Airwrap hair styler recorded revenue of £6.6bn in the financial year ending December 2024, down from £7.1bn in 2023.
Pre-tax profit was £561m last year, down from £1.1bn in 2023, a decline of 49%.
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) was £900m for the same period, a decline from £1.4bn the previous year.
Slower economic growth and reduction in consumer confidence in some key markets were behind the decline, the company said in its latest annual accounts filed in Singapore, where the business is headquartered.
Dyson also faced one-off issues including currency fluctuations, particularly in Asia and Turkey, as well as a restructure of the business which saw the loss of 1,000 jobs.
A major fire at Dyson’s factory in the Philippines also led to a shortage of beauty products, while it also embarked on a “rebalancing” from direct retail and “prioritising relationships with key retail partners”, the company said in a statement.
“2024 was a difficult but necessary year of transformation for Dyson,” said Hanno Kirner, Dyson’s CEO.
“We saw sales volumes reach their highest levels but revenue down on the prior year, due to one-off issues.
“We have increased the rate of product development, investing heavily in future products and future technology, notably in robotics and wet floor cleaning.
“We are now a leaner, reinvigorated and more productive company.
“We have succeeded in reducing unnecessary costs and are developing more of our engineers’ ideas.
“We are bringing more products to market this year than ever before.”
In the beauty space, Dyson launched the Supersonic r hair dryer, Supersonic Nural hair dryer, and Airwrap i.d. multi-styler and dryer in 2024.
Earlier this year, it also made its first foray into non-technology hair care with the Dyson Omega nourishing range.
A next generation Airwrap, the Dyson Airwrap Co-and a 2x multi-styler and dryer, also made its debut.
Dyson filed 238 patents last year, up from 231 in 2023, the accounts said.
The company also noted accelerated growth in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), South East Asia (SEA), India and Eastern Europe.
“We sold more Dyson products than ever before in 2024 and continue to focus on new innovations for our customers, like the Supersonic r and the PencilVac,” said founder Sir James Dyson.
“We are spending £8m a week on research and development and investing in our engineers of the future through the Dyson Institute.
“Our investments are yielding exciting new products every year.
“We are hugely excited about our launches in 2025 and beyond, which bring significant innovations into people’s homes including new wet and dry floor cleaning technology, robotic technology and purification technology, as well as complete reinventions of our hair dryer and vacuum cleaner formats.”