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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Fashion brand Sosandar in the black after revenue spike

Sales spiked at a women's fashion brand sold by the likes of John Lewis, Next and M&S during its latest financial period.

Sosandar, which is headquartered in Wilmslow, has posted a revenue of £20.9m for the six months to the end of September 2022, up from the £12.7m it achieved during the same period in 2021.

According to new figures filed with the London Stock Exchange, the business also reported a pre-tax profit of £77,000 after making a loss of £1m.

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Market expectations are that the company will report a revenue of over £40m for the year to March 31, 2023, and a pre-tax profit of £2m.

For its most recent financial year, Sosandar posted a pre-tax loss of £554,000 and a revenue of £29.4m.

In a joint statement Co-CEOs Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: "We are very pleased to be reporting a strong performance for the six months ended 30 September 2022, with trading in line with our expectations for full year growth.

"Our continued revenue growth has enabled us to reach a significant milestone in delivering another six months of profitability, achieving a substantial swing from a loss of £1.1m in the same period last year to a profit before tax of £0.1m for the current period.

"This performance is a testament to the relevance of our strategy, unique and broad product offering and ever-increasing brand awareness, which has enabled us to continue to deliver for our customers, despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop.

"Second half trading to date has built on the momentum we saw in the first half. Pleasingly, throughout October and November we delivered two record months of sales with this culminating in an extremely successful Black Friday period which saw a record number of visits to Sosandar.com and the strongest sales week on record for our third party partners, with margins increasing compared with the first half of the financial year. In addition, whilst discounts were on offer, gross margins remained stable resulting in two further months of profitability.

"Looking ahead, whilst the external environment remains challenging, it is important to note that as a business, we have successfully mitigated many of the headwinds we have faced over the past two years.

"We have a brilliant brand, highly differentiated product that is in demand across all our channels and a great team who constantly execute our strategy well.

"We continue to trade in line with market expectations for the full year and remain confident in the longer-term outlook for the business."

On its current trading and outlook, the company added: "Following a strong H1 performance, trading in the second half of the financial year to date has been very encouraging.

"The positive momentum seen in the period under review has carried through into October and November with the company reporting two further consecutive months of profitability.

"Record sales were achieved both from third parties and on our own site, with exceptional performance surrounding Black Friday activity which saw the single largest day in terms of visits to sosandar.com and the most successful sales week recorded for third parties. Positively, margins have improved during this period.

"Achieving these results in the current macroeconomic environment validates our strategy, business model and relationship with our loyal customer base.

"Our continued revenue growth and second six-month period of positive PBT has been driven by an increased diversity of our product range, with strong growth both on our own site and through third parties.

"Whilst there is no doubt that the current economic backdrop brings many challenges for businesses and consumers, our achievements to date have been down to our strategy, planning and ability to execute. We are confident that we will continue to manage our business appropriately to enable us to steer through the next set of challenges.

"We know our customer incredibly well and as we have done over the past two years, our messaging in our communication with customers will reflect how our customers are thinking and feeling. We are continuing to see demand for stand-out, quality clothing and value for money - all of which are the key tenants of our proposition.

"Whilst the current environment is unpredictable, we now have a proven track record of being able to navigate difficult times and we remain confident that, as we continue to invest in our product, platform and people we will achieve what we have set out for the current year. We are also confident in the longer-term outlook for the business."

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