Trading Update and Board Update

RNS Number : 8799Y

In The Style Group PLC

19 January 2022

 

19 January 2022

In The Style Group plc

("In The Style", the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update and Board Update

In The Style, the fast-growing digital womenswear fashion brand with an innovative influencer collaboration model, is pleased to provide an update on Christmas trading for the eight weeks to 31 December 2021 (the "Period") as well as an update on its Board of Directors.

Trading Update

-   Gross order value increased 41.4% to £15.2m on a strong comparable performance, reflecting growing customer demand for the In The Style brand, on a two-year basis this represents growth of 178.4%

-  Total net sales increased 21.5% to £11.2m or 225.9% on a two-year basis

-  Further progress across operational KPIs, including average order value, website visits and conversion rate

-  Continued good performance of growing wholesale channel

-  Returns rates have reduced over the Period versus H1 in line with expectations given the product mix. Good progress in implementing processes to reduce future return rates

-    Top line growth in line with expectations achieved, despite the ongoing industry wide headwinds caused by supply chain constraints

In The Style continued to deliver strong growth during the Christmas trading period. Gross order value (GOV), a pre-returns metric that indicates underlying customer demand, increased 41.4% to £15.2m as the Group continued to deliver good growth against the strong prior year performance. GOV increased 178.4% on a two-year basis. Total net sales increased 21.5% to £11.2m, or 225.9% on a two-year basis.

Growth continues to be driven by a very strong performance across the Group's direct to consumer (DTC) e-commerce channel, which comprises the In The Style website and proprietary app. DTC net sales, or sales post-customer returns, increased 34.5% year on year to £9.1m, representing an increase of 204.7% on a two-year basis. Sales through the In The Style App increased by 72.3% year on year and represented 67.1% of total sales for the Period.

This positive momentum was underpinned by the continued expansion of In The Style's differentiated influencer model, including a number of well-received launches of new influencer partnerships and very successful collection launches with existing influencer partners. The Group also experienced very strong consumer demand across its partywear and seasonal categories, in particular its very popular festive family pyjama ranges and charity Christmas jumper collection.

The Group's wholesale channel, comprising both digital and retail partnerships including ASOS, Lipsy and ASDA, continued to perform well and in line with management expectations.

The Company continues to make good progress implementing processes to reducing return rates, which, in line with the Board's expectations, were lower in the Period versus H1 supported by seasonal changes to the product mix.

FY22 outlook

Following the positive sales performance during the Christmas period, the Group anticipates achieving strong revenue growth for the financial year ended 31 March 2022 (FY22) in the range of £55m to £57m, in line with market expectations.

The industry-wide global supply chain constraints continue to result in additional cost pressures as well as extended transit times.  Less predictable transit times have sporadically impacted the Group's launch timetable and resulted in shorter sales periods for some ranges. Careful management and flexibility in the Group's supply chain has ensured that this did not impact overall sales figures during the Period. However, this has led to an increased level of discounting to clear some ranges ahead of subsequent launches and the Group currently expects some launches scheduled for Q4 to fall into FY23, resulting in a smaller volume of full price sales launches in Q4. As a result of these supply chain constraint issues, the Board now anticipates reporting a FY22 Adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 1% to 2%.

Sam Perkins, CEO of In The Style, commented: "The Group has continued its excellent growth to achieve a strong sales performance during the important golden quarter. This outcome was achieved despite the well-documented uncertainties facing both consumers and retailers during the period and is testament to the appeal of the In The Style brand, continued positive momentum across several key customer metrics, and the success of our recent influencer collaborations.

"I'm very excited to have now joined In The Style. Underpinned by the strength of the Group's differentiated business model and strong brand as well as the important investments that have been made in ITS's infrastructure, technology and team, we have so many exciting long-term growth opportunities to go for. We have a strong pipeline of new partnerships and collection launches, and I am looking forward to working closely with our excellent team to achieve our objectives ."

Board update

In a separate announcement also released today, the Group has announced that CFO & COO Paul Masters has informed the Board of his need to step down from the Group in March 2022, in order to focus on his health.

The Board is pleased to announce that Richard Monaghan will succeed Paul in the role of CFO. Richard will join In The Style in mid-March 2022.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

ENDS

Enquiries

In The Style Group plc Jim Sharp, Non-Executive Chairman Sam Perkins, CEO Paul Masters, CFO & COO	Via Hudson Sandler
Liberum Capital Limited (Nomad and Broker) Clayton Bush Scott Mathieson Ed Thomas Miquela Bezuidenhoudt	[phone]
Hudson Sandler Alex Brennan Lucy Wollam Jake Brown	[phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors

In The Style is a fast-growing digital womenswear fashion brand with an innovative social media influencer collaboration model.

Founded in 2013 by entrepreneur Adam Frisby, the brand champions female empowerment, inclusivity, body positivity and real beauty.

The brand's innovative and highly adaptable influencer collaboration model, which sees it work with influencers on a long-term basis to collaboratively design, develop and promote branded collections, differentiates it from competitors.

In The Style currently partners with a stable of 15 influencers, including Stacey Solomon, Dani Dyer, Jacqueline Jossa and Billie Faiers. Together they enjoy a combined global social media reach of almost 30m followers.

 

END

 

 

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