Superdry cuts full year profit guidance to breakeven
Superdry has downgraded its full year profit outlook to breakeven despite a stronger Christmas performance.
The fashion retailer posted a 4.5% uplift in group revenue in the nine weeks to 31 December as it benefited from a recovery in in-store trading and increased demand for winter outerwear. Store revenue growth was particularly strong at 18.8%. However, wholesale revenue fell by 57.4% in the period, which Superdry partly attributed to the impact of shipment timings.
Julian Dunkerton, founder and chief executive of Superdry, said: “The Superdry brand has real momentum and I’m delighted by how our retail trading continues to strengthen. We’ve done this against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop by delivering well-designed, affordable, and responsibly sourced products which have resonated well with customers.
“Our coats performed really well in the run up to Christmas, and womenswear continues to be a highlight for us. Stores continued to recover strongly and online had its biggest ever week over Black Friday, helped by our new ecommerce platform which is delivering real benefits.
“Despite the underlying brand recovery, our profits in the first half fell short of expectations mainly due to the underperformance of wholesale. We reorganised our team and our approach to support our wholesale partners and expect to see their confidence return following the retail success of AW22.”
Giving an update on its half-year results for the 26 weeks to 29 October, Superdry said revenue edged up 3.6% to £287.2 million with retail channels growing by 9.5%. However, the retailer posted an interim pre-tax loss of £13.6 million compared to a loss of £2.8 million at the same time in the prior year.
Superdry has now cut its full year adjusted pre-tax profit outlook to breakeven from a previously guided £10 million to £20 million.
Looking ahead, Dunkerton said: “Whilst we did trade well through November and December, the outlook for the remainder of the year is uncertain and as a result, we are moderating our profit outlook to broadly breakeven. We don’t expect market conditions to become easier any time soon, but with a new financing package in place and the brand in great health, we approach the year ahead with optimism.”
