Trading Update

RNS Number : 5588M

Sosandar PLC

09 January 2019

 

Date:	09 January 2019
On behalf of:	Sosandar plc ('Sosandar' or 'the Company')
Embargoed until:	0700hrs

Sosandar plc

Trading Update

Continued momentum with record quarter for revenue and KPIs 

Revenue for the full year now expected to be slightly ahead of current market expectations

Sosandar PLC (AIM: SOS), the online women's fashion brand, is delighted to announce the following trading update for the three months ended December 2018.

Momentum has continued throughout autumn and into winter as the Company experienced a record quarter for revenue, orders, site visits and conversion. Revenue for the period was slightly ahead of our expectations at £1.6m, a 219% increase on the same period in 2017 and higher than the Company's revenue for the entire prior financial year.

Highlights for the three months ended 31 December 2018 vs same period 2017:

·      Strong revenue growth achieved, driven by a surge in repeat orders and continued new customer acquisition

·      Sosandar's unique designs, coupled with high quality fabrics at affordable price points are driving customers' growing loyalty to the brand:

o  Customer database increased 209% to nearly 100,000

o  Conversion rate increased 129bps to 3.47%

o  Average order value increased 10% to £105.58

o  Repeat orders increased 527% to over 20,000

·     Number of orders increased 221% to 35,183

·    Gross margin for the quarter (includes the seasonal sale period) at 53.3%, up 500bps on the same period    last year assisted by holding full price during Black Friday period.

·     The efficiency of the Company's customer acquisition activities across multiple channels increased, with CPA again showing significant improvement vs prior year

·    The growing customer base and economies of scale in the business are creating efficiencies with EBITDA loss down on prior year

·     Returns were at 49%, having decreased slightly over the period as anticipated, reflecting the different product mix in Autumn/Winter

·     Strong balance sheet with net cash of £4.6m as at 31 December 2018

Sosandar's content-driven marketing strategy, utilised across all its digital and print media platforms, has been further enhanced by a diverse and growing celebrity and social influencer fanbase. New celebrities seen wearing Sosandar clothing include Zoe Ball, Susanna Reid, Melanie Sykes and Una Healy.

Following the successful repeat order increase driven by the Company's previous investment in customer acquisition, Sosandar will continue to invest further into the brand through imagery and marketing to drive continued strong top line growth. Accordingly, and as a result of the strong trading so far this year, the Company expects revenue for the full year to be slightly ahead of current market expectations with the net loss for the year in line.

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Joint CEOs, commented:

"We are pleased to be reporting another period of substantial growth over the key trading months to 31 December driven by strong full price sales and high sell through rates, combined with a successful seasonal sale at the end of period. We are delighted by the engagement we are building with our customers, evidenced by the increase in visits, orders and especially conversion and margins which are already comparing favourably with established businesses.

"We are selling well across existing categories such as partywear and leather, and also seeing a promising performance in new areas such as loungewear and accessories. Combined with a substantial increase in repeat orders and a significant uplift in conversion rates to 3.47%, this highlights the underlying quality of our products and the sizeable growth opportunities we have with the Sosandar brand."

Enquiries

Sosandar plc	www.sosandar.com
Julie Lavington / Ali Hall, Joint CEOs	c/o Alma PR
Shore Capital Patrick Castle / Mark Percy / James Thomas	[phone]
Alma PR Limited (Financial PR)	[phone]
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Susie Hudson / Sam Modlin	[e-mail]

About Sosandar PLC

Sosandar is an online womenswear brand, specifically targeted at a generation of women who have graduated from throwaway fashion and are looking for quality, affordable clothing with a premium, trend-led aesthetic. This is a section of the market that is currently being underserved.

Sosandar was launched in September 2016. The Sosandar business model is built around using trend-led, exclusive designs produced in-house and then manufactured using a variety of global suppliers. Sosandar caters for a growing market of fashion conscious women, while utilising an outsourced logistics provider that can support its planned growth over the coming years.

Sosandar's founders are Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, who previously launched and ran high street fashion magazine Look, as editor and publishing director respectively. They have a combined experience of over 35 years in the fashion industry, including in the design, manufacture and sale of fashion ranges for some of the UK's high street retailers, including Debenhams, Office, Oasis and JD Williams.

More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com

 

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