Superdry hails signs of financial recovery
Superdry has seen its half year revenue decline by 1.9% on last year and by 24.9% on a two-year basis due to the impact of Covid-19 and its move to a full-price trading stance.
The fashion retailer also posted an adjusted pre-tax loss £2.8 million in the period, but this was an improvement on the loss of £10.6 million in the prior year.
Meanwhile, its statutory pre-tax profit increased to £4 million from a loss in both first halves of the 2021 and 2020 financial years as the retailer benefited from the fair value movement on foreign exchange forward contracts.
Julian Dunkerton, Superdry chief executive, said: “I’m really pleased with our progress against each of our strategic initiatives with clear signs of brand and financial recovery. The health of the brand is best demonstrated by the improving sales run-rate and a +12%pts2 increase in retail full-price sales mix which helped drive group gross margin up +3.5%pts year-on-year.
“The autumn/winter 21 season has been the first opportunity to present our improved product to consumers. Our core category of jackets drove performance, up 40% year-on-year and it was encouraging to see positive trends across a number of categories, particularly in womenswear.”
Superdry said it is making progress with its digital marketing strategy as it looks to “reignite” consumer interest in the brand, This has included increasing the number of influencers it has engaged six-fold year-on-year to more than 2,000 at the end of December.
Looking ahead, Dunkerton said: “While there remains uncertainty about the impact of Covid-19 and the macro-economic environment, I am increasingly confident in the accelerating momentum of our reset and the strengthening of the brand.”
