Press Release 05 November 2026
Continued revenue growth and stronger margins delivering improved profitability trajectory
Trading in line with Full Year expectations
Sosandar plc (AIM: SOS), the women’s fashion brand, creating quality, trend-led products for women of all ages, is pleased to announce its results for the six months ended 30 September 2026 (‘H1 FY27’ or ‘the Period’).
Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs commented:
“The delivery in the Period is testament to the underlying strength of the Sosandar model and the strategic decisions we have made over the last few years.. Revenue has grown, margins have strengthened and we’re moving closer to the profitability this business is capable of.
We entered the year with strong momentum, we are really pleased with our performance through the Spring / Summer season despite the challenging consumer backdrop. Whilst September was impacted by the prolonged Summer weather, trading has strengthened significantly through October as we saw more Autumnal weather.
At the heart of everything is creating clothes women love to wear, and that remains our focus. We’re positive about the opportunity ahead and confident in delivering our full‑year market expectations.”
1 Adjusted loss before tax excludes the effect of year specific transactions that are either one-off in nature and / or unreflective of the underlying trading performance of the Company which includes impairment of non-financial assets and costs associated with store exits in FY27 and FY26.
The Company is hosting a webinar for retail investors at 9.00am today. If you would like to attend, please register via https://engageinvestor.news/SOS_HY27.
Sosandar is a women’s fashion brand in the UK targeting style conscious women who have graduated from lower quality, 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 and tested 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 its own stores and has a number of high value brand partnerships including with NEXT, M&S and John Lewis.
Sosandar’s success has been built on an exceptional product range, seamless customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing, all of which is underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis. Our growth strategy is focused on continuing to grow brand awareness and expand our addressable market and routes to market, reaching customers wherever they wish to shop. This is achieved both through direct to consumer channels and through chosen third-party partners.
Sosandar was founded in 2016 and listed on AIM in 2017. More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com
The first half of FY27 has demonstrated continued progress against our strategy and the increasing strength of Sosandar’s multi-channel model. We delivered further revenue growth alongside a significant improvement in gross margin and a reduced loss, while continuing to invest in the long-term development of the brand. The business typically achieves profitability in H2 each year and we expect this trend to continue and have every confidence of achieving market expectations for the full year.
The progress made over the last two years to reposition Sosandar as a full-price, multi-channel retailer continues to underpin the business. Our focus remains clear: delivering product that resonates with our customers, protecting the quality of our margins and growing the brand across complementary routes to market. As our channel mix continues to develop, we remain focused on building a larger, more profitable and cash-generative business over time.
Group revenue increased 11% year-on-year to £20.8m (H1 FY26: £18.7m), reflecting strong growth across our third-party partners and continued progress from our store estate.
Importantly, this growth was delivered alongside a substantial improvement in gross margin, which increased by 290 basis points to 65.1% (H1 FY26: 62.2%). The continued progress in margin reinforces the benefits of the deliberate strategic decisions we have taken around pricing, promotions and the quality of revenue.
This combination of revenue growth and stronger gross margin translated into an improved profitability trajectory. Adjusted loss before tax reduced to £0.7m from £1.1m in the prior year. We remain focused on sustained growth in profitability, and the first half performance demonstrates continued progress towards that objective.
We ended the Period with cash of £7.1m, compared with £8.4m at the end of March 2026. The movement principally reflects the normal working capital cycle in the first half, together with £0.9m returned to shareholders through share buybacks during the Period.
We remain disciplined in our approach to capital allocation, balancing investment in the growth of the Sosandar brand with maintaining a strong balance sheet and returning capital to shareholders where appropriate.
Our strategy is centred on building the Sosandar brand with multiple complementary routes to market. The first half provided further evidence of the benefits of this approach. Our own website remains the cornerstone of the Sosandar brand and our flagship destination, giving customers access to the broadest choice of our product range and brand. Alongside this, our partner network enables us to reach new customers and generate incremental demand. This is consistent with our strategy of combining our direct-to-consumer platform with high-quality partner distribution.
Our own website started the year strongly, with revenue up 7% in the first quarter, reflecting continued customer engagement with the brand and our product. As we moved to the end of the second quarter, the prolonged warm weather delayed the transition into Autumn and Winter purchasing. This resulted in own-site revenue being flat year-on-year for the Period as a whole. Given the strong start to the year and the specific external factors that subsequently affected September, we remain confident in the underlying strength of the Sosandar proposition and the continued appeal of our product.
Revenue through our third-party partners increased 24% year-on-year, demonstrating the strength of demand for Sosandar across our broader customer base and the benefits of our multi-channel model. The performance also benefited from increased demand through our partners, highlighting the complementary nature of our channels and the reach provided by our partner network.
Our stores continued to make progress during the Period, with revenue increasing 10% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis excluding Bath, which we exited during the half. As we have consistently said, we view stores as an important part of our multi-channel model: providing a physical showcase for the Sosandar brand, introducing the product to new customers and complementing our established online and partner channels. Our focus remains on further improving the profitability of the existing estate as individual locations mature. This maintains the disciplined approach to store economics set out at the full year.
We are encouraged by the progress made during the first half. Revenue continues to grow, our gross margin has strengthened materially and profitability has improved, while our performance across third-party partners and stores demonstrates the value of having multiple complementary routes to market.
The investments we have made in our team, infrastructure and brand mean the foundations are in place to support a materially larger business. As we scale, we continue to believe this creates the potential for meaningful operating leverage, with profit able to grow faster than revenue over time. This remains central to the long-term opportunity for Sosandar.
We remain focused on the same priorities: delivering product that resonates with our customer demographic, growing the core online and partner business at attractive margins, improving the profitability of our store estate and maintaining disciplined capital allocation.
The progress delivered in the first half, together with our confidence in the opportunities ahead, means we remain on track to deliver our market expectations for the full year and reinforces our confidence in Sosandar’s long-term growth opportunity.
1Adjusted loss before tax excludes the effect of year specific transactions that are either one-off in nature and / or unreflective of the underlying trading performance of the Company which includes impairment of non-financial assets and costs associated with store exits in FY27 and FY26.
The Adjusted pre-tax loss for H1 FY27 improved by £0.4m to £0.7m (H1 FY26: £1.1m loss) which reflects the growth in revenue, substantial increase in gross margin and costs being well controlled. Profitability for the first half is in line with expectations which is particularly pleasing given the challenging macro-environment. It is important to note that the second half of the financial year is historically stronger, with higher revenues delivering economies of scale and therefore profit.
Revenue in H1 FY27 has increased by 11% to £20.8m (H1 FY26: £18.7m). Sales through the Spring and Summer season were strong with revenue for the first 5 months to the end of August being up 17% year-on-year. The prolonged Summer weather impacted the month of September, with purchases of Autumn ranges being slower to increase compared with last year. In terms of H1 FY27 overall, the impact of September is prevalent across all sales channels, with revenue through our own website being up 5% to the end of August and flat overall for H1, and revenue through our third parties being up 32% to the end of August and up 24% for H1. On our own website. we maintained our full price strategy throughout the period including in September where we chose not to offer price promotional deals to stimulate demand. As a result, Gross Margin was stronger.
The Gross Margin in H1 FY27 increased substantially to 65.1% (H1 FY26: 62.2%). This increase, coupled with further increases across the previous 2 years resulted in the gross margin now being 10 percentage points up compared with H1 FY24 (55.4%). Compared with last year the growth of 290bps reflects the change in channel mix plus stronger intake margins. Intake margins have strengthened further within the Period, reflecting improved cost prices coupled with the strength of Sterling against the Dollar. Similar rates have been secured for H2 FY27 which means we would expect to report equally positive intake margins for the next 6 months.
Total Operating Costs increased by £1.6m / 13% to £14.3m (H1 FY26: £12.7m).
Commissions retained by our Concession partners represent the single largest reason for the overall increase reflecting the increase in revenue generated through these partners. The increase in commission is £0.9m and is all volume related with the average percentage of revenue remaining the same.
Further investment in marketing has been made during the first half enabling us to grow the active customer database by 11,000 / 6% in the last twelve months. Payback remains strong, although not quite as strong as last year, in part reflecting the delayed start to the Autumn season in FY27.
Other volume related costs remained stable and consistent as a percentage of relevant revenue when compared with the previous year. This is pleasing as inflationary rises have been offset through efficiencies, in particular with regards to our warehouse and logistics costs.
Interest receivable nearly doubled to £0.1m which reflects a stronger cash balance through H1 FY27 with a larger proportion being held in interest bearing accounts.
The balance sheet continues to be robust with net assets as at 30 September 2026 of £15.5m compared with £17.0m at 30 September 2025. Cash at 30 September 2026 remains healthy at £7.1m, down from £8.4m as at 31st March 2026 inclusive of a further £0.9m being returned to shareholders through the share buyback programme. We continue to have zero debt. The cash balance through September and October is the low point of the cash balance during the year, being reflective of the natural working capital cycle. A large proportion of stock has been paid for or will be paid for up to the mid-point of October, ahead of it being sold through the Autumn/Winter season.
As anticipated, inventory has increased to £11.5m (H1 FY26: £10.5m) which reflects the planned additional investment in stock holding for the Autumn/Winter season. The inventory balance is slightly affected by the delayed start to Autumn sales, however, we view this as a timing change demonstrated by strengthening sales through October.
Receivables reduced marginally to £3.4m (H1 FY26: £3.6m), predominantly due to lower revenue through September. During the period, there was no change to payment terms with any of our partners.
Current liabilities increased to £9.0m (H1 FY26: £8.3m) due to higher trade payables partially offset by lower lease liabilities. Trade payables increased to £8.6m (H1 FY26: £7.5m), with stock related creditors increasing which is reflective of greater inventory being purchased for the Autumn/Winter season and the payment terms applicable to those shipments. There has been no material change to the average payment term with suppliers. Partially offsetting this is the reduction in current lease liabilities following the assignment of Bath retail store lease which had the highest annual rent of all stores in our estate.
Overall the cash balance remains strong with the stronger half of the year to come in terms of trading and cash generation. As a result, we have continued to return funds to shareholders through the share buyback programme. During H1 FY27, £0.9m has been returned, resulting in a total of 32.7m shares being held in treasury at 30 September 2026, which represents 13.2% of the total issued shares. A further 0.7m shares were bought back in October, with the total shares being held in treasury as of today being 33.4m.
1The loss per share (pence) for the 6 months to 30 September 2025 was restated from (0.44) to (0.42). Refer to note 6 for further detail.
2 The Directors assess the underlying trading performance of the Group based on adjusted profit/(loss) before tax which is a £0.7m loss for the 6 month Period to 30 September 2026. This measure reflects the underlying trading performance of the Group and excludes the effect of transactions that are year specific including impairment of right of use and tangible assets relating to retail stores. Please see note 3 for detailed reconciliations of the alternative performance measures.
Share capital is the amount subscribed for shares at nominal value.
Share premium represents the excess of the amount subscribed for share capital over the nominal value of those shares net of share issue expenses.
Treasury shares represent shares held in treasury as a result of the share buyback programme.
Reverse acquisition reserve relates to the effect on equity of the reverse acquisition of Thread 35 Limited.
Capital redemption reserve represents the aggregate nominal value of all the deferred shares repurchased and cancelled by the Company. The reserve is non-distributable.
Retained earnings represent the cumulative profit / (loss) of the Group attributable to equity shareholders.
Other reserves represents the share based payments reserve which relates to the charge for share-based payments in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard 2.
1 A capital reduction was completed during the financial year ended 31 March 2026 following the Court approval on 14 October 2025.
2 The Company started a share buy-back programme during the financial year ended 31 March 2026 which has continued through the financial year ended 31 March 2027.
Sosandar Plc (the ‘Company’) is a public company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. Details of the registered office, the officers and advisers to the Company are presented on the Company Information page at the end of this report. The Company is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SOS).
The principal activity of the Group in the year under review was that of a clothing manufacturer and distributor via internet and mail order as well as retail stores.
The financial information set out in this Half Yearly report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Company’s statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026, prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The auditor’s report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain statements under Sections 498(2) and 498 (3) of the Companies Act 2006.
Copies of the annual statutory accounts and the Half Yearly report can be found on the Company’s website at https://www.sosandar-ir.com/content/investors/annual-reports.asp.
This Half Yearly report has been prepared using the historical cost convention, on a going concern basis and in accordance with “IFRS” as adopted by the European Union, using accounting policies which are consistent with those set out in the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.
In reporting financial information, the Group presents an alternative performance measure (‘APM’) of adjusted profit/(loss) before tax which is not defined or specified under IFRS. Adjusted profit/(loss) before tax is used as an APM to show the underlying trading performance of the Group as it eliminates gains or losses that are year specific and are not part of the Group’s day to day business operations. This is consistent with how the business performance is planned and reported within internal management reporting and also facilitates year-on-year comparison. Adjusted profit/(loss) before tax is calculated by excluding adjusting items from statutory profit/(loss) before tax.
Adjusted items are items of income and expenditure which are year specific and material to the current financial year. Adjusted items also include impairment and reversal of impairment of non-financial assets. These are presented separately in the consolidated income statement, as the Directors believe that this presentation helps to facilitate year on year comparison and is consistent with how the business performance is planned and reported internally
The following table reconciles the adjusted profit/(loss) before tax per the Statement of Comprehensive Income
1 On 29 June 2026, the lease relating to the Bath store was assigned to another retailer and the store was closed. The costs associated with the Bath store exit have been classified as adjusting items as they are non-recurring. These include the disposal of assets and liabilities associated with the lease and the reversal of the previous impairment against the Bath store assets. There were also some legal fees associated with the assignment.
The directors have considered the requirement of IFRS 15 with regards to disaggregation of revenue and do not consider this to be required as the Group only has one operating segment which is retail sales.
The income recognition for delivery receipts, commissions on partner-fulfilled sales and wholesale revenue are in line with that of retail sales and linked to dispatch/delivery to customers.
Due to the nature of its activities, the Group is not reliant on any individual major customers.
The major geographical market remains the UK.
Disaggregation of revenue based on distribution channels is as follows:
1 Own Channels includes Sosandar.com and own stores
2 Third-Party Channels includes concession and wholesale
Details of ordinary shares issued are in the table below:
Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period:
1 The weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue used in the basic earnings/(loss) per share includes a weighted average of 11,451,942 (Sept 2025: 11,789,130) of vested options with an exercise price of par and also a weighted average number of treasury shares of (29,073,009) (Sept 2025: nil). As per IAS 33 these must be included within the weighted average number of ordinary shares when calculating basic EPS.
2 In line with IAS 33, the weighted average number of ordinary shares and fully diluted average number of ordinary shares in issue in the period ended 30 September 2025 was restated to reflect the weighted average number of the nil exercise price vested share options which were 11,789,130. As a result of this, the basic loss per share (pence) and diluted loss per share (pence) was restated from (0.44) to (0.42).
The Group had no post balance sheet events.
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