UK's Superdry posts revenue of £219.8 mn in H1 FY24

The wholesale division experienced a substantial decrease of 41.1 per cent, with revenues falling to £62.6 million compared to £106.2 million in the first half of fiscal 2023. The retail segment also saw a decline, with a 13.1 per cent drop. This was predominantly driven by a downturn in e-commerce sales, which decreased by 19.1 per cent to £51.2 million, compared to £63.3 million in the previous year, the company said in a press release.

Store sales were more resilient but still fell by 9.9 per cent to £106.0 million, from £117.7 million, affected by weather conditions and the timing of promotions.

Despite these challenges, Superdry's gross margin saw an improvement of 1.9 percentage points. However, the company reported an adjusted loss before tax of £25.3 million, a significant increase from a £13.6 million loss in the first half of fiscal 2023. In contrast, the statutory profit before tax was £3.3 million, a positive shift from a £17.7 million loss in the same period last year.

The H1 FY24 inventories stood at £130.9 million, a 24.2 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. The company projects that the FY24 closing inventory will reach approximately 7 million units, a significant reduction from a peak of approximately 18.9 million units at the end of fiscal 2019.

“This has clearly been a difficult period for Superdry. A challenging consumer retail market, set against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty and some remarkably unseasonal weather conditions have all combined to weaken the financial performance of the group. These macro and external factors have been further exacerbated by the underperformance of our wholesale segment. Whilst, to some extent, this was expected due to the decision to exit our US operations and the sale of the brand rights in non-core territories, the segment continues to prove challenging,” said Julian Dunkerton, founder and chief executive officer.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DP)