Quiz reports 15 percent drop in sales, warns of loss

As inflationary pressures continue to take hold of UK high streets, it appears that fast fashion retailer Quiz is one of the many struggling to keep afloat as sales for the 2023 summer period took a hit.

The company provided an update on trading between April 1 and August 31, during which time its overall sales had dropped by 15.3 percent to 37 million pounds, down from 43.7 million pounds in the year prior.

This was largely driven by the 23.8 percent decrease in online sales caused by a decline in web traffic and an increase in return rates.

UK store and concessions sales also dropped 11.5 percent, reflective of a decline in store traffic, and despite the opening of three new stores since April 1.

International revenues were another to take a hit, dropping from three million pounds in 2022 to 2.4 million pounds this year – a 10.5 percent decline.

Consumer confidence and demand decline

Quiz attributed the lacklustre performance to inflationary cost pressures, which it said had impacted consumer confidence and the demand for its products.

In light of this, Quiz’s board said that if the current trend in revenues were to continue during the second half of the financial year, its FY24 group revenue would be 6 to 7 percent lower than current market expectations.

This would ultimately knock the group’s profitability, leading it to possibly result in a loss for the year of no more than 1.5 million pounds, compared to its FY23 EBITDA of 6.2 million pounds.

Its statement continued: “Whilst the impact of cost of living pressures on consumers' disposable income persists, management continues to retain a tight control on costs and is proactively reviewing all aspects of the business to mitigate the impact of the current economic and trading environment on the group and identify potential strategies to drive additional revenue growth.”