Sosandar welcomes first full year of profitability

Sosandar has welcomed its first full year of profitability in FY23, in what was a “milestone year” for the group, as profits swung to £1.6m, up from a loss of £0.6m the prior year. Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions over the period, revenues also increased, with sales rising 44% to £42.5m, up from £29.5m the prior year. The group also reported continued progression against its KPIs with growth across all metrics on its own site and sustained momentum with third party partners. Over the year, total orders increased 22% to 621k, and active customers increased 19% to 265k. In addition, average order frequency has continued to grow, and is now at 2.34 times per annum. The group noted that trading with its third-party partners, including Next and Marks and Spencer, has been “extremely strong”, with a record quarter delivered through third parties in Q3, followed by a strong Q4. In addition, there was a successful initial online launch of a partnership with Sainsbury's, which is currently performing in line with expectations. An in-store rollout of its curated collection is on track for launch in September 2023. Looking ahead, Sosandar said there has been a strong start to the first quarter of FY24, with revenues up by 10% to £11.4m against a strong prior year comparator, with the impact of strategic initiatives to come through in H2 FY24. The group added that current trading is in line with market expectations, reflecting a strong performance on both own site and through third-party partners. Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, co-CEOs, said: "We are delighted to report on what has been a transformational year for Sosandar. Despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we have seen increasing demand for our products across all categories with strong trading across both Sosandar.com and through our third-party partners. “The sustained growth in revenue and profitability throughout the period is testament to our ability to deliver a unique quality product offering and highly effective marketing strategy, that resonates with our customer base. Our success to date would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of our team and we would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to all of our staff for their hard work during the year.” They added: “Our third-party partnerships continue to perform extremely well and we were delighted to become an omnichannel retailer through our partnership with Sainsbury's. The partnership will accelerate growth in our market share and the awareness of our brand as we provide our large but underserved demographic with more opportunities to purchase our unique and diverse products. “The momentum built throughout FY23 has continued into FY24 with current trading in line with expectations. We are very excited for the opportunity available to us in FY24 and beyond as we deploy the money raised from our over-subscribed equity fundraise in January 2023 to support our growth both in the UK and internationally."