Superdry Q4 sales drop by 37 percent

Superdry Plc said its fourth quarter performance was substantially impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19, down 36.9 percent to 118.5 million pounds (146.5 million dollars), with all company-owned stores and the majority of franchise locations closed from late-March. Group revenue for FY20 was down 19.1 percent year on year to 705.5 million pounds (872.2 million dollars), as the company added that it moved towards a full price trading stance and away from persistent discounting.

Commenting on the trading performance, Julian Dunkerton, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said in a statement: “As with all retailers, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused major disruption to our business operations and supply chain. I am pleased with the accelerating shift in sales to online, and we’ve seen a particularly good performance from our women’s ranges, which, for the first time ever, are accounting for around half our sales. Clearly however, the closure of all our stores has had a major impact.”

Highlights of Superdry’s Q4 and full year results

Superdry’s full price mix improved 12 percent points over the full year. Store revenue was down 22.9 percent in FY20 and down 57 percent in the fourth quarter, as a consequence of the return to a full price trading stance, particularly over the peak trading period, reflected in the full price sales mix increasing by 16 percent pts to 69 percent over the full year. Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, store revenue declines averaged 12.1 percent year on year.

In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the company closed its first stores in Italy on March 11, with the entire estate closed by March 22. The company added that controlled re-opening of stores began on April 24 in Germany, Sweden and Denmark and as at May 6, 48 stores have re-opened across Europe, with 130 expected by the end of May.

Superdry’s ecommerce revenues declined 8.2 percent in FY20 but increased by 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, having been subject to similar headwinds as in our retail store estate. However, performance in the 6 weeks to 7 March materially improved, growing 18.8 percent year on year until the outbreak of Covid-19. The company said, ecommerce revenues have subsequently performed well, benefitting from channel shift following the full closure of retail store estate. Weekly sales are up 100 percent year on year over the last four weeks.

Wholesale revenues were down 20.1 percent in FY20 and down 35.8 percent in the fourth quarter. Only 22 percent of the company’s franchise stores are currently trading, with 75 percent of the entire franchise estate expected to re-open by the end of May.

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