Superdry posts sharp decline in H1 revenues

In a trading update for the first half year, Superdry Plc said, revenues declined 11.3 percent to 367.8 million pounds (473.2 million dollars), reflecting an expected year of reset, and the need to address a number of legacy issues across the business. The company’s retail sales decline moderated through first half, with Q2 store revenue down 9.4 percent versus 13.9 percent in Q1.

Commenting on the update, Julian Dunkerton, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are making good progress with the start to our turnaround plan for Superdry, returning the business to its design led roots. We are moving the business away from a reliance on constant promotions, and while this focus on full price sales has affected revenue in the first half, this is being partially offset by a better gross margin performance."

Superdry said, focus on full price sales and reduction in promotional activity impacted revenue but drove a 3.2 percent increase in store gross margin. Full price sales mix averaged 70 percent in H120 versus 52 percent H119. Wholesale revenues for the period dropped 11.2 percent while ecommerce revenues were down 10.5 percent.

The company added that it has taken swift and decisive action to implement strategic changes as part of the business reset, which is a two to three year programme to gain full control of the product and costs and it is confident in delivering further benefits from reset initiatives across Superdry in the second half, while remaining cautious about the challenging market conditions over the peak trading period.

Picture:Facebook/Superdry