Fashion retailer Superdry warned of a hit to annual profit on Tuesday, as unusually warm weather hurt sales of its autumn/winter collection and consumers curb spending amid a cost-of-living squeeze.
Shares in the company, known for its jackets and clothing inspired by American vintage styles and Japanese-inspired graphics, fell as much as 32.5 per cent to an all-time low of 28.2 pence.
The FTSE small cap stock has lost about three-quarters of its value this year, as it battles a cash crunch and subdued consumer demand.
Superdry has tried to raise funds and rein in costs, by curbing its digital marketing spending and exiting the U.S. wholesale business. However, it said trading has been significantly below management expectations. “Whilst we have seen modest signs of improvement through the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging,” founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton said in a statement.
For the six months ended October 28, its retail sales were down 13 per cent while wholesale fell by 41.1 per cent.
Sales in the six weeks since then are down about 7 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Retailers in UK saw tepid growth in November despite Black Friday deals, the British Retail Consortium said this month.
“Whilst more seasonal, so cooler and damper, climatic conditions has helped more recent sales, especially outerwear, they are behind management’s budgets and so the earnings outcome can be expected to be weaker than market expectations,” said Shore Capital analyst Clive Black. – Reuters
