REG - Sosandar PLC - Trading Update

SosandarAnnouncement

06/01/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 5720X  Sosandar PLC  06 January 2022

 Date:             06 January 2022
 On behalf of:     Sosandar plc ('Sosandar' or 'the Company')
 Embargoed until:  0700hrs

 

Sosandar plc

Trading Update

 

Record trading with revenue up +122% year on year, first EBITDA positive
quarter and trading in line with the recently upgraded market expectations *

 

Sosandar, the online women's fashion brand, is pleased to provide the
following trading update covering the three-month period ended 31 December
2021.

 

Highlights:

 

·      Revenue of £8.85m, up 122% year-on-year (Q3 FY21: £3.98m),
representing a record quarter

·      First EBITDA-positive quarter, demonstrating the Company's
trajectory towards annual profitability

·      Customer engagement continues to be very strong with all KPIs
increasing:

o  Active customers increased by 62% year on year to 213,715

o  Conversion rate of 4.06%, up from 3.47% in Q3 FY21

o  Average order frequency increased by 12% to 2.23 times per annum

o  Average order value of £95.18, up 13% from £84.51 in the prior year

·      Record trading with third parties M&S, Next and John Lewis,
following significant investment in stock depth and breadth

·      Strong gross margin at 55.8%, up from 43.6% in Q3 FY21

·      Net cash of £7.4m as at 31 December 2021, reflecting the
Company's strong trading performance (£7.4m as at 30 September 2021).

 

The Company is delighted to report a record quarter across all key metrics,
generating a revenue increase of 122% against Q3 FY21. Each month in the
period has been EBITDA positive, a significant milestone.

 

This performance is a reflection of our agility, unique product offering, high
levels of customer engagement and ever increasing brand awareness which
continues to build demand and drive momentum with fashion forward women. The
Company's significantly expanded autumn/winter range has resonated extremely
well with customers, with rapid sell through across all key categories on
Sosandar's own website and with third parties. All product categories have
grown year-on-year and overall returns rates are lower than pre-pandemic
levels due to the diversification of the product range.

 

The Company has continued to leverage its agility to navigate external global
supply chain challenges which, alongside margin gains driven by the business'
growth, have resulted in no material impact to the business to date. The
Company's broadened product range compared to pre-pandemic and experience
handling past volatility in demand underpins Management's confidence that the
business is able to continue to adapt to customer shopping habits.

 

Trading throughout the period, including post-Christmas and into early
January, has been strong. Demand has followed trends of expected seasonality.
Sales of partywear were very strong pre-Christmas followed by an increase in
activewear and more casual clothing post-Christmas, along with sustained
strong sales of knitwear, outerwear, dresses, boots, denim and leather. As a
result, the Board confirms that the Company continues to trade in line with
recently upgraded market expectations* for the current financial year.

 

*Sosandar believes that market expectations for the year ending 31 March 2022
are currently revenue of £27.1 million and an EBITDA loss of £0.9 million.

 

Conference call

 

Sosandar is hosting a Q&A call for analysts and investors today at 09:30am
to discuss the Trading Update. If you would like to register for the call
please follow this link: https://bit.ly/3mVcESp (https://bit.ly/3mVcESp)

 

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs commented:

 

"We are delighted to report a record quarter for Sosandar, with each month
being EBITDA positive. Our expanded product range and effective communication
with our customers, in line with our strategy, has been a key driver of the
growth we have delivered. The strength of our trading, together with the
impact of our increased scale, is leading us towards sustainable
profitability.

 

We continue to trade very well, with our expanded product range and innate
agility enabling us to tailor our offering to customer demand. We remain
vigilant to the external challenges, however, we have not experienced any
material disruption at this time and believe our approach continues to
position us well going forward.

 

We are more confident than ever that Sosandar is well on the road to becoming
the go-to one stop shop for fashion forward women."

 

 

Enquiries

 

 Sosandar plc                                 www.sosandar.com (http://www.sosandar.com)
 Julie Lavington / Ali Hall, Joint CEOs       c/o Alma PR
 Steve Dilks, CFO

 Singer Capital Markets                       +44 (0) 20 7496 3000

 Peter Steel / Tom Salvesen / Kailey Aliyar

 Alma PR Limited (Financial PR)               +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
 Susie Hudson / Sam Modlin / Molly Gretton    sosandar@almapr.co.uk (mailto:sosandar@almapr.co.uk)

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the retained
UK version of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 ("UK MAR").

 

About Sosandar plc

 

Sosandar provides a one-stop online shop for style conscious women who have
graduated from price-led alternatives. The Company offers this underserved
audience fashion-forward, affordable, quality clothing to make them feel sexy,
feminine and chic. The business sells predominantly own-label exclusive
product designed in-house.

 

Sosandar's product range is diverse, offering its customers all main
womenswear clothing categories, including a wide range of flattering dresses
for all occasions, a market-leading denim collection and extensive knitwear
range. The Company has brand partnerships in place with Next, John Lewis and
Marks & Spencer.

 

Sosandar's growth strategy is to build brand awareness and expand its customer
base through developing exceptional products, providing a seamless customer
experience and using impactful, lifestyle marketing activity. This is
underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis, which drives
successful product development and new customer targeting.

 

Sosandar was founded in 2016 and listed on AIM in 2017. More information is
available at www.sosandar-ir.com

 

 

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