Superdry has flagged that profits will be lower than expected after trading ”significantly below management expectations”.
The fashion retailer said a “challenging consumer retail market and the abnormally mild autumn” hit sales in the first half of its financial year
It said unseasonal weather through the early autumn had led to a delayed uptake of its autumn/winter range, hurting sales in the six months ended 28 October.
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Retail sales slipped 13.1% from the year prior while wholesale sales slumped 41.1%, although this was expected due to the decision to exit its US wholesale operation.
Online performance as well as stores was also affected by the weather, while ecommerce marketing was cut with profit was prioritised.
Although performance has since improved, sales in the six weeks since the half-year are still down around 7% on a like-for-like basis but Superdry said it had made progress on its cost savings programme and remains on track to make £35m million of savings within the year.
It added that its inventory reduction programme was on track as clearance of aged stock has continued.
CEO Julian Dunkerton said: “The unseasonal weather through the early autumn led to a delayed uptake of our Autumn/Winter range and this impacted sales in the first half of the year.”
“Whilst we have seen modest signs of improvement through the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging, and this is reflected in the weaker than expected business performance. The operational progress we have made in the first half has been more encouraging with the IP sale for the South Asian region and strong progress on our cost efficiency programme.”
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