Superdry lowers FY profit guidance to breakeven

Superdry has revealed it recorded an adjusted loss before tax of £13.6m for the 26-week period ending 29 October 2022, and as such has lowered its FY profit guidance from £10-£20m to breakeven. The clothing retailer owned by Julian Dunkerton said the performance comes from a return to normal rent business rates and other costs whilst the store business remained “heavily impacted” by Omicron, particularly in Europe which was “exacerbated” by underperformance in Wholesale which declined 5.2%. Despite this, the firm saw stores revenues surge 14.3% to £117.7m as customers returned to high streets, with strong demand for womenswear, denim, and jackets. Over the Christmas period, it said demand continued to strengthen, with stores back to 2019 levels in December and retail revenues up 24.9% in nine weeks to 31 December 2022. Julian Dunkerton, founder and CEO, said: “The Superdry brand has real momentum and I’m delighted by how our retail trading continues to strengthen. We’ve done this against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop by delivering well-designed, affordable, and responsibly sourced products which have resonated well with customers. “Our coats performed really well in the run up to Christmas, and womenswear continues to be a highlight for us. Stores continued to recover strongly and online had its biggest ever week over Black Friday, helped by our new ecommerce platform which is delivering real benefits.” He added: “We continued to receive positive recognition for our efforts to make Superdry the ‘#1 Sustainable Style Destination’, and this year CDP awarded us an A rating, one of only two British fashion brands on this year’s ‘A List’. Despite the underlying brand recovery, our profits in the first half fell short of expectations mainly due to the underperformance of Wholesale. We reorganised our team and our approach to support our Wholesale partners and expect to see their confidence return following the retail success of AW22. “Whilst we did trade well through November and December, the outlook for the remainder of the year is uncertain and as a result, we are moderating our profit outlook to broadly breakeven. We don’t expect market conditions to become easier any time soon, but with a new financing package in place and the brand in great health, we approach the year ahead with optimism.”