Superdry has fallen to a £ 21.7 million loss in what co-founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton has described as a ‘difficult’ year for the business.
The company’s sales increased by 2.1 per cent to £ 622.5 million over the past 12 months, while pre-tax earnings decreased to £ 21.7 million from £ 21.6 million. In contrast to the prior year’s profit of £ 22.4 million, the statutory loss after tax was £ 148.1 million.
As business rebounded from COVID in the US and UK during that time, with strong peak Christmas sales, Stores revenue increased by 14.7 per cent. “Good third-party site performance and [the brand’s] best Black Friday event” are to blame for the increase of 14.3 per cent in e-commerce revenue.
However wholesale proved a drag on sales and the return to normal levels of rent and business rates (which had been subsidised during COVID) meant that the business entered a loss.
CEO and co-founder Julian Dunkerton said, “This has been a difficult year for the business and the market conditions have been extremely challenging, especially in Wholesale.” The group revenue for the first quarter of the current fiscal year was down 18.4 per cent from the prior quarter, although this was to be expected.
When compared to the same period last year, first quarter store revenue decreased by 3.7 per cent. This decline was mostly caused by unseasonably warm weather and a delayed start to the end-of-season sale.
With the later start to the sale and “a profit-focused reduction in spend on digital marketing,” Q1 e-commerce sales fell by 12.6 per cent. The retail industry as a whole declined 6.6 per cent. In the first quarter, wholesale revenue decreased by 50.3 per cent, which the business attributed in part to scheduling variations from the prior year.
