Shares in online women’s fashion brand Sosandar plc (LSE:SOS) were up another 20% this morning following a reported record performance for FY 22. The company’s board told investors that it now anticipates reporting revenue and EBITDA for the full year ended 31 March to be ahead of recently upgraded market expectations.
Sosandar said it expects to report revenue in excess of £29.0m, up 138% year on year. EBITDA loss was reduced by over 80% from a loss of £2.92m in FY21 (six consecutive EBITDA positive months in H2 FY22). The company reported what it calls “ever increasing engagement with [our] loyal customer base” through its online portal.. The number of orders was reported up 84% and repeat orders were up 93%. Gross margin was up 56%.
It’s all about excellent management
This record performance, across all metrics, is testament to Sosandar’s strategy, unique product offering and ever increasing brand awareness across its target market. Sosandar already has a broad product range, with new styles available daily, and its highly effective marketing continues to drive strong growth with both new and repeat customers.
The Armchair Trader added Sosandar to its short term trading portfolio in February 2021 and it has continued to impress since then. Per our end of February reporting date the stock was up +52.4% in that portfolio. We liked it because of its ability to function as a clothing retailer during the lockdown, but we also focused in our report on its sales and impressive distribution partnerships. We wrote at the time:
“The company seems to be conservatively managed and not getting ahead of itself. We like the strategic distribution tie-ups with the likes of John Lewis…This is a pure play womenswear business that is emerging from the pandemic in solid shape. “
Digital sales growth
The strategy at Sosandar is to accelerate sales growth on Sosandar.com and through the company’s concession partners; this has been executed to plan with a very strong sales response as a result of Sosandar’s dynamic design and product development process as well as the greater depth and breadth of stock made available across all product categories.
Sosandar is successfully growing its scale and customer loyalty and has become a key strategic partner of its three major third-party retailers, M&S, Next & John Lewis, with significant opportunities for further growth.
Following its successes with third party partnerships to date, Sosandar said today it has extended its relationship with Next PLC, with Sosandar products to be sold through Next’s ‘Platform Plus’. In addition, following an approach by The Very Group, Sosandar is commencing a wholesale agreement from March 2022.
“We successfully executed our strategy across own site and third parties, building momentum in H2 and ultimately delivering our first six months of profitability which is a pivotal moment for us all,” said Co-CEO Ali Hall. “This outstanding performance means we now anticipate FY22 results to be ahead of current market expectations. Our success is testament to what we have achieved as a business to date, further endorsing the strong and ever-growing appeal and quality of the Sosandar brand.”
Added Co-CEO Julie Lavington: “Despite the continuing uncertainty in the wider environment, our confidence in the outlook for Sosandar is undiminished and, reflecting our trading momentum, we plan to further accelerate our growth in the new financial year and beyond.”
