Half Year Results

Continued revenue growth of +72%, delivering the Company’s second six-month period of positive PBT. Momentum has continued into the second half of the financial year with record sales months in October and November, trading in line with market expectations* for the full financial year

Sosandar PLC (AIM: SOS), one of the fastest growing fashion brands in the UK, creating quality, trend-led products for women of all ages, is pleased to announce its financial results for the six months ended 30 September 2022 and an update on current trading.

Download The full results are available to download in PDF format

Post-period Trading Highlights

• Strong start to H2 FY23 with record sales months delivered in October and then November
• Black Friday saw record number of visits to Sosandar.com and the strongest sales week on record for our third party partners, with margins increasing on H1 FY23
• Products across all categories selling well, with fast-tracked categories including partywear, knitwear and outerwear particularly strong
• Net cash of £4.2m as at 30 Nov 2022

Half Year Financial Highlights

• Net revenue of £21.0 million, a 72% increase against the same period in the prior year (H1 FY22: £12.2m). This growth was split equitably between own site and third party partners
• PBT of £0.1m for H1 FY23, a substantial positive swing compared to (£1.1m) loss in H1 FY22, being the second six-month period of positive PBT following H2 FY22
• Gross margin at 54.4% (H1 FY22: 56.5%) signifying a more normal post Covid trading period, including a planned end of season sale in August
• Net cash of £4.2m as at 30 Sept 2022 (FY22: £7.0m) reflecting planned earlier delivery of autumn stock than the prior year to facilitate deliveries into third party partners. In addition, the Company is starting to import more via sea freight which changes the working capital cycle, realising significant cost benefit and reducing our environmental impact

Half Year Operational and Strategic Highlights

• Success of unique product offering and increasing brand awareness shown by growth across KPIs compared with the same period the year prior (H1 FY22):
  • Number of orders increased on Sosandar.com by 43% to 347,137, of which 80,935 were from brand new customers and 266,202 were from existing customers
  • Average order frequency up 8% to 2.41 times
  • Website visits up 25% to over 7.7m
  • Conversion rate increased to 4.5% (H1 FY22: 3.9%)
  • Strong Average Order Value up 4% to £90 (H1 FY22: £86)
  • Active customers up 33% to 254,601
• Successful fast track development of key products, with all identified lines meeting or exceeding internal expectations
• Strong trading with third parties M&S, Next, John Lewis and The Very Group across all product categories
• Launched a new partnership with N Brown Group Plc’s JD Williams on a wholesale agreement in September 2022

H1 FY23 KPIs (Own Site)

	Six months ended 30 Sept 2022		Six months ended 30 Sept 2021		Change
Web visits	7,770,346		6,212,484		25%
Conversion rate	4.5%		3.9%		60bps
Number of orders	347,137		242,991		43%
AOV	£89.71		£85.86		4%
Active customers	254,601		191,424		33%
Average Order Frequency	2.41		2.21		9%

 

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs commented:

“We are very pleased to be reporting a strong performance for the six months ended 30 September 2022, with trading in line with our expectations for full year growth. Our continued revenue growth has enabled us to reach a significant milestone in delivering another six months of profitability, achieving a substantial swing from a loss of £1.1m in the same period last year to a profit before tax of £0.1m for the current period.

This performance is a testament to the relevance of our strategy, unique and broad product offering and ever-increasing brand awareness, which has enabled us to continue to deliver for our customers, despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop.

Second half trading to date has built on the momentum we saw in the first half. Pleasingly, throughout October and November we delivered two record months of sales with this culminating in an extremely successful Black Friday period which saw a record number of visits to Sosandar.com and the strongest sales week on record for our third party partners, with margins increasing compared with the first half of the financial year. In addition, whilst discounts were on offer, gross margins remained stable resulting in two further months of profitability.  

Looking ahead, whilst the external environment remains challenging, it is important to note that as a business, we have successfully mitigated many of the headwinds we have faced over the past two years. We have a brilliant brand, highly differentiated product that is in demand across all our channels and a great team who constantly execute our strategy well. We continue to trade in line with market expectations for the full year and remain confident in the longer-term outlook for the business.” 

* Sosandar believes that market expectations for the year ending 31 March 2023 are currently revenue of £42.8 million and PBT of £2.0 million.

Presentations

Sosandar is hosting a webinar for analysts at 09:30 hrs GMT today. If you would like to register, please contact [email protected]

The Company is also hosting a webinar for retail investors at 11:30 today. If you would like to attend, please register here: https://bit.ly/SOS_H1_23_webinar

 

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	+44 (0) 20 7496 3000
Alma PR Limited (Financial PR)	+44 (0) 20 3405 0205
Sam Modlin/ Lily Soares Smith/ Matthew Young	[email protected]

 

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 is one of the fastest growing women’s fashion brands in the UK targeting 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, providing its customers with an array of choice for all occasions across all women’s fashion categories. The company sells through Sosandar.com and has brand partnerships in place with Next, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, The Very Group and N Brown.

 Sosandar's strategy is to continue growing brand awareness and expand its customer database, whilst also further driving its high levels of customer retention. This is achieved through its exceptional products, seamless customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing activities, all of which is underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis.

 Sosandar was founded in 2016 and listed on AIM in 2017. More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com