Trading Update

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

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
Julie Lavington / Ali Hall, Joint CEOs	c/o Alma PR
Steve Dilks, CFO
Singer Capital Markets Peter Steel / Tom Salvesen / Kailey Aliyar	[phone]
Alma PR Limited (Financial PR)	[phone]
Susie Hudson / Sam Modlin / Molly Gretton	[e-mail]

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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