REG - Sosandar PLC - Trading Update

SosandarAnnouncement

10/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1620M  Sosandar PLC  10 January 2023

 Date:             10 January 2023
 On behalf of:     Sosandar plc ('Sosandar' or 'the Company')
 Embargoed until:  0700hrs

 

Sosandar plc

Trading Update

 

Another record quarter, continuing the strong momentum from H1

 

Sosandar PLC (AIM: SOS), one of the fastest growing fashion brands in the UK,
creating quality, trend-led products for women of all ages, is pleased to
provide the following trading update covering the three-month Period ended 31
December 2022.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Highlights:

 

 ·             Revenue of £11.6m, up 30% year-on-year (Q3 FY22: £8.9m), a new record
               quarter
 ·             Strong revenue growth across all sales channels, with a new record quarter for
               third party partners
 ·             Fifth consecutive quarter of profitability for the Group
 ·             Average order value of £106.37, up 11% from £95.69 in the prior year
               reflecting customers buying into higher priced items and categories such as
               outerwear, tailoring and occasion wear
 ·             Improved gross margin at 56.8%, up from 55.8% in Q3 FY22 and a further
               improvement from 54.4% achieved in H1 FY23
 ·             Net cash of £4.6m as at 31 December 2022 (£4.2m as at 30 September 2022)

 

The Company is delighted to report another strong trading performance across
both the Sosandar website and via its third party partners. Delivering this
performance despite the challenging consumer backdrop is testament to the
Company's agility, underpinned by a unique quality product offering, highly
effective marketing strategy and increasing brand awareness across its target
market.

 

The Group's fast-tracked development of specific product categories resonated
extremely well with customers, resulting in all identified lines meeting or
exceeding management expectations. Across the period, every single product
category experienced growth, with knitwear, formal tailoring, coats and
partywear performing exceptionally well throughout the Winter season.

 

The Board remains cognisant of the wider macro-economic challenges and
regularly reviews market conditions to ensure that Sosandar is well prepared
to adapt to customer trends and mitigate all headwinds. The Group's
performance in FY23 so far has served to validate the strategy, agile business
model, dedicated team and highly differentiated quality product that is in
demand across all our channels. As a result, the Board confirms that the
Company continues to trade in line with market expectations* for the current
financial year.

 

* The Board believes that consensus market expectations for the year ending 31
March 2023 are revenues of £42.8m and PBT of £2.0m.

 

 

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs commented:

 

"We are pleased to be reporting another record trading performance for
Sosandar and a fifth consecutive quarter of profitability for the Group. The
momentum built in H1 has continued and we are thrilled to report both strong
revenue  growth and improved margins compared with the first half of the
financial year.  As a result of our strategic initiatives, we had a record
number of visits in to Sosandar.com in the quarter and we have seen our
customers investing in higher value items throughout the winter season.

 

Our agile business model, expanded product offering and ever-increasing brand
awareness has allowed us to deliver what our customers want and to continue
dressing women to feel sexy and chic.

 

Whilst the macro-economic environment remains challenging, and we remain
highly vigilant, we continue to demonstrate that our differentiated model is
capable of achieving sustained profitable growth. As a management team, we
have complete confidence in our brand, unique product, amazing colleagues and
our ability to continue executing on our strategy.

 

The strength of our brand and product range continues to be recognised by
third party retailers and as a result we are really excited by a number of new
opportunities for growth being presented to us across various sales channels
and territories."

 

 

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 / Alaina Wong

 Alma PR Limited (Financial PR)             +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
 Sam Modlin/ Matthew Young                  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 is one of the fastest growing women's fashion brands in the UK
targeting 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, providing its customers with an array of
choice for all occasions across all women's fashion categories. The company
sells through Sosandar.com and has brand partnerships in place with Next, John
Lewis, Marks & Spencer, The Very Group and N Brown.

 

Sosandar's strategy is to continue growing brand awareness and expand its
customer database, whilst also further driving its high levels of customer
retention. This is achieved through its exceptional products, seamless
customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing activities all of which
is underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis.

 

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

 

 

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