Sosandar has reiterated its full-year outlook, confirming it is on course for annual revenues of £46.8m and a £100,000 pre-tax profit, despite sliding to a half-year loss.
The online fashion retailer, which is currently expanding into bricks and mortar shops, posted revenues of £22.2m in the six months to 30 September, up 6% on the same period a year previously.
The pre-tax loss however was £1.3m, compared to a pre-tax profit of £0.1m at the same time last year.
Sosandar attributed the loss to a reduction in price promotional activity, which it trialled during the first half.
The move led to a “material improvement” in average order value and margin but lower site visits, orders and conversion, it noted.
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However, the business said autumn trading has been strong, and the company is trading in line with full year market expectations.
It said all channels have performed well with strong revenue growth, increased gross margin, positive pre-tax profit in both months and a record month of trading in November, with similar momentum in December to date.
Revenue for October and November was in excess of £10m, a 16% increase on the same period last year and a significant improvement on the six per cent growth achieved in the first hald FY24.
It achieved a strong performance on its own site and one of the top selling brands across all third-party partners including Next and M&S.
The company said it has also made substantial progress towards opening its first own stores, with locations identified ahead of a planned launch early in financial year 2025.
In a statement, joint chief executives Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: “Over the past six months we have made significant steps in our journey to become a multi-channel retailer while also expanding the reach of the Sosandar brand.
“Throughout the period we saw growth across all product ranges, with particular success in summer occasion wear and beach and swim ranges. Trading in the second half to date has been encouraging, in line with full-year market expectations.
“Looking ahead, we believe that the future is very bright as we take the Sosandar brand to more customers across the UK and worldwide and move further wards our strategic goal of delivering £100m+ in revenues.”
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