// Made.com has warned on profits due to supply chain costs and low consumer confidence
// The group has slashed its sales and earnings outlook for this year
Made.com has warned on profits, blaming supply chain costs and low consumer confidence.
The group has slashed its sales and earnings outlook for this year and does not expect an improvement in demand for big-ticket items anytime soon.
The homewares retailer expected full year gross sales to fall by 15% to 30%, having previously guided a flat to down 15% performance.
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Made.com also forecast a core loss of £50 million to £70 million, versus previous expectations of a loss of £15 million to £35 million.
Despite the volatile macro backdrop, the group has made strong progress on its strategy around Experience, Choice, Reach and Sustainability during the first half of the year.
The integration of Trouva, an online platform that offers a curated range of homewares and lifestyle products, is “progressing well” and Made has pulled forward its re-entry into Ireland with encouraging early trading.
The management team is “actively addressing” all non-strategic fixed costs across the business to enable the return to attractive unit economics and ensure the business operating model is flexible for the new environment and better positioned to deliver the long-term strategic goals.
Areas of focus include looking at forward stock buying, warehousing and sourcing markets, and reviewing our operational structure and headcount.
“It’s clear that things are tough for consumers at the moment. Understandably, we’ve seen a worsening in consumer confidence since May and this has had an impact on this period’s performance,” Made.com CEO, Nicola Thompson said.
“As such it’s prudent for us to take a conservative view of what we can expect in the second half of this year.
“It’s thanks to the hard work and determination of our team at Made that we’ve made strong strategic progress over this period, despite the challenging macroeconomics. Looking at our performance over recent years, we have managed to grow the business by 57% since 2019, our last undisrupted year, and increased our market share.
“To enable us to continue executing on our strategy we’re taking steps to address the non-strategic costs in the business, as well as considering options to allow us to strengthen the balance sheet sufficiently to navigate what will undoubtedly continue to be challenging conditions. We’re confident that this will put us in a strong position for the coming years.”
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