REG - Sosandar PLC - Half Year Trading Update

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RNS Number : 1651D  Sosandar PLC  14 October 2025

14 October 2025

 

Sosandar plc

("Sosandar" or the "Company")

 

Half Year Trading Update

Return to revenue growth and resilient gross margins in H1

Trading in line with Full Year expectations

 

Sosandar plc (AIM: SOS), the women's fashion brand, creating quality,
trend-led products for women of all ages, is pleased to provide the following
trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2025 ('H1 FY26').

 

Key Highlights:

 

 ·             Return to revenue growth with a 15% increase in net revenue to £18.7m (H1
               FY25: £16.2m)
 ·             Own site revenue also returned to growth with a 28% increase versus the prior
               year
 ·             Sustained strong gross margin of 62.2% (H1 FY25: 62.2%), reflecting the
               strategic focus on margin enhancement
 ·             Loss before tax of £1.1m (H1 FY25: £0.7m), in line with our expectations and
               reflecting traditional second half weighting of profitability alongside the
               impact of own stores and M&S cyber incident
 ·             Strong net cash of £7.7m (£7.3m as at 31 March 2025)
 ·             Trading is in line with FY26 full year expectations for both revenue and
               profit before tax*

 

* Sosandar believes that current market expectations for the year ending 31
March 2026 (as revised in July 2025) are revenues of £43.6 million and profit
before tax of £0.4 million.

 

Repositioning for Revenue Growth

 

 ·             Following the strategic initiatives undertaken in FY25 to position the
               business for sustainable, profitable and cash-generative growth, we are
               pleased to report a robust return to revenue growth in the first half of the
               financial year.

 ·             Notably, our own site demonstrated sequential revenue growth in both Q1 and
               Q2, driven by a meaningful uplift in site traffic, improved conversion rates,
               and increased order volumes from both new and existing customers.

 ·             The first half loss before tax reflects the business' seasonal trading
               profile, with profitability typically weighted to the second half, supported
               by higher-margin Autumn/Winter collections, and peak trading ahead of
               Christmas and the benefits of operating leverage expected to come through at
               higher activity levels in H2 as in previous years.

 

Margin and profitability

 

 ·             Our deliberate shift away from price promotional activity continues to be well
               received by customers, underpinning the Company's strengthened and resilient
               gross margin. We expect to sustain this momentum and drive further margin
               expansion as the year progresses.

 ·             As expected, and as outlined in our July trading update, our stores continue
               to weigh on profitability as they mature, alongside short-term disruption from
               the Marks & Spencer cyber incident, which impacted sales throughout H1. We
               remain focused on improving store performance and progressing towards
               breakeven, with no further openings planned at this time.

 

Momentum from Third-Party Partnerships

 

 ·             Sosandar remains one of the top-selling brands across all third-party
               partners, including NEXT, delivering robust trading during the period and
               entering the key Autumn/Winter season with positive momentum.

 ·             In September, we were delighted to launch our licensed homeware range with
               NEXT, which has delivered a strong initial performance in line with our
               expectations. The range includes a full set of living room furniture and
               accessories - such as sofas, accent chairs, rugs and lighting - and is
               available exclusively online at NEXT.co.uk.

 ·             Sales through the Marks & Spencer website have now resumed, with
               collaborative efforts underway to scale stock intake for Q3.

 

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Joint-CEOs of Sosandar plc, commented:

 

"We remain incredibly excited for what lies ahead for Sosandar as we leverage
the multiple opportunities available to us to expand the brand's presence
across the UK and international markets, progressing towards our goal of
becoming one of the leading global womenswear brands. The Board reiterates its
confidence in delivering market expectations for the current financial year
with the foundations now in place for sustainable, profitable and
cash-generative growth over the medium to long-term."

 

Conference call

 

Sosandar is hosting a Q&A call for analysts and investors today at 09:30
to discuss the Trading Update. If you would like to register for the call,
please follow this link: https://engageinvestor.news/SOS_IP_1025
(https://engageinvestor.news/SOS_IP_1025)

 

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 / Sara Hale / Patrick Weaver

 Dowgate Capital (Joint Broker)                            +44 (0) 20 3903 7715

 David Poutney / Amber Higgs / Daniel Ingram
 Alma Strategic Communications                             +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
 Sam Modlin / Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Kinvara Verdon      sosandar@almastrategic.com (mailto:sosandar@almastrategic.com)

 

 

About Sosandar plc

Sosandar is a women's fashion brand in the UK targeting style conscious women
who have graduated from lower quality, 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 and tested 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 its own stores, and has a number of high value
brand partnerships including with NEXT and Marks & Spencer.

 

Sosandar's success has been built on an exceptional product range, seamless
customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing, all of which is
underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis. Our growth strategy is
focused on continuing to grow brand awareness and expand our addressable
market and routes to market, reaching customers wherever they wish to shop.
This is achieved both through direct to consumer channels and through chosen
third-party partners.

 

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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