Quiz shares plunge following sales ‘shortfall’
Quiz, the omni‐channel fashion brand, has seen its shares plummet after it announced it will launch a “thorough review” of its business following a “significant shortfall” in sales.
At the time of writing shares, in Quiz have fallen by 50% after it revealed in a trading update covering the 1 January to 28 February like-for-like sales across its UK stores dropped by 11%.
As a result the group said revenues decreased by 1.7% compared with the previous year. Quiz attributed the performance to the “uncertain consumer spending backdrop” and the need to apply higher than anticipated discounts to clear excess stock.
The Quiz board previously anticipated that revenues for FY 2019 would be approximately £133m, which would have represented growth in sales in the final quarter of 9.2% compared to the previous year resulting in anticipated EBITDA of £8.2m.
However given the sales experienced in the final quarter of FY 2019 to date, the group now anticipates revenues to reach approximately £129m. It is also said it expected that the increased level of discounting will have a material impact on gross margins generated in the final quarter of FY 2019, anticipating that EBITDA will be approximately £4.5m.
As such Quiz said its board is “instituting a thorough review of all aspects of the business with a view to mitigating the effects of changed trading conditions”.
Tarak Ramzan, CEO, said : “Whilst the board remains confident in the strength and appeal of the QUIZ brand, as demonstrated by our continued sales growth online, this has been a highly disappointing trading period for the group.
“As a result, the board will be reviewing all aspects of the business over the coming months to ensure that we can deliver the group’s long term potential despite the changing consumer backdrop and challenging trading conditions.”
