Superdry plc: IR-Half-yearly Results

SuperdryPlc

(“Superdry” or “the Company”)

27 January 2023

Interim Results for the 26-week period ending 29 October 2022

Strong Christmas trading; cautious on remainder of FY23

Superdry announces its Interim Results covering the 26-week period from 1 May 2022 to 29 October 2022 ("H1 23") and a trading update covering the 9-week period from 30 October 2022 to 31 December 2022.

• Brand recovery on track, with strong momentum for AW221 collection and new leading categories.
• Stores revenue +14.3% to £117.7m as customers returned to high streets, with strong demand for womenswear, denim, and jackets.
• Wholesale declined 5.2%, due to a lagged recovery after Covid and shipment timing.
• The return to a normalised cost base coupled with the slow start to Q1 in Europe, and the delayed recovery of Wholesale have all impacted first half profits, despite underlying recovery.

• Adjusted Loss Before Tax2 of £(13.6)m, includes foreign exchange gains of £17.2m  (H1 22 FX loss of £1.1m).

• Awarded a Climate Disclosure Project (“CDP”) A rating, one of only two British fashion brands in the ‘A List’.
• Over the Christmas period, demand continued to strengthen, with stores back to 2019 levels in December and Retail3 revenue up 24.9% in 9 weeks to 31 December 2022.
• Due to underperformance of Wholesale and increasing uncertainty on Q4, we have revised our outlook for FY23 adjusted profit before tax to be broadly breakeven (previously £10 – 20m).

Julian Dunkerton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Superdry brand has real momentum and I’m delighted by how our retail trading continues to strengthen. We’ve done this against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop by delivering well-designed, affordable, and responsibly sourced products which have resonated well with customers. Our coats performed really well in the run up to Christmas, and womenswear continues to be a highlight for us. Stores continued to recover strongly and online had its biggest ever week over Black Friday, helped by our new ecommerce platform which is delivering real benefits.

We continued to receive positive recognition for our efforts to make Superdry the ‘#1 Sustainable Style Destination’, and this year CDP awarded us an A rating, one of only two British fashion brands on this year’s ‘A List’.

Despite the underlying brand recovery, our profits in the first half fell short of expectations mainly due to the underperformance of Wholesale. We reorganised our team and our approach to support our Wholesale partners and expect to see their confidence return following the retail success of AW22. Whilst we did trade well through November and December, the outlook for the remainder of the year is uncertain and as a result, we are moderating our profit outlook to broadly breakeven. We don’t expect market conditions to become easier any time soon, but with a new financing package in place and the brand in great health, we approach the year ahead with optimism.”

H1 23 Financial overview

• Revenue increased 3.6% year-on-year with retail channels growing 9.5% due to a strong return to physical retail whilst ecommerce growth of 1.6% was more modest as customer returned to shopping in stores. This was offset by both the slower rate of buy in Wholesale, given some stock overhang, which continued to be adversely affected by stock overhangs from Covid, and a later dispatch profile for AW221 product.
• Gross margin contracted by 3.1%pts with the strong delivery of our full-price stance during a period of rising costs being offset by the delayed Wholesale price increases and additional stock clearance through the Wholesale channel.
• Adjusted loss before tax fell to £(13.6)m (H1 22 £(2.8)m), impacted both by the performance of Wholesale and a return to normal business rents and rates following a period of Covid-relief, offset by gains from cash margin hedges against exchange rate movements of £10.3m (H1 22 £(1.2) m) and  a revaluation of foreign currency assets of £6.9m (H1 22 £0.1m).
• Statutory loss before tax was £(17.7)m, a £21.7m decrease from a profit of £4.0m in H1 22.
• Working capital showed a reduction of £1.3m year-on-year driven by a combination of increased inventory of £13.2m and receivables of £15.9m, offset by a rise in payables by £30.4m, all significantly affected by the timing of stock intake and wholesale dispatches.
• We ended the half with £38.0m net debt2 as we entered our seasonal working capital high, exacerbated by a period of slower sales in October due to the warmer weather. As noted in our 22 December trading update, our cash position has continued to improve during the peak trading period, with net debt of £9.8m as of 31 December 2022.

Christmas Trading (9 weeks from 30 October 2022 to 31 December 2022)

The table below shows the revenue change on a one-year basis for the 9-week period ending 31 December 2022:

* Over short trading periods, wholesale is always subject to material timing differences year-on-year and the longer-term trends are more indicative of overall performance.

Over the 9-week period, group revenue was up 4.5% versus FY22 as physical store trading continued to recover, offsetting a material reduction in Wholesale dispatches. Retail revenue grew by 24.9%, reflecting both a strong recovery in stores, with more seasonal weather re-igniting strong demand for our outerwear. This was supported by a more strategic and well-executed Black Friday and end-of-season sale. Importantly, we saw a recovery in our Store sales beyond pre-Covid levels during a robust holiday trading period.

The Black Friday event, our first major promotion in nine months, pulled a high volume of traffic into our stores and onto our Ecommerce site and kickstarted the successful Christmas trading period after the unseasonal weather in October. Our post-Christmas Sale then cleared stock at attractive rates for our customers – on better margins than our alternative clearance channels – helping to reduce our excess inventory, whilst having a small impact on gross margin.

Wholesale has proved more challenging with revenue down 18.0% year-to-date, in part driven by the impact of shipment timings, some of which will reverse in the second half. However, there is still a Covid-related confidence lag in Wholesale, which we expect to close as our partners see how successful our AW221 range has performed through our own channels, giving them confidence to buy for future seasons.

We continued to deliver on our unit inventory reduction programme, with a further reduction from 12.4m at period end to 11.8m. As of 31 December 2022, the Company had £9.8m net debt2, supported by solid holiday trading.

Gross margin for the 9 weeks is down 60 basis points on the prior year, largely driven by the continuing weakness in Wholesale along with the Black Friday and end-of-season clearance events.

Outlook

While the global macroeconomic outlook remains challenging, we have gained confidence from our recent robust retail performance and the strong demand for our brand across all geographies and platforms. We believe that our honest approach to high quality products for a great price has resonated well with consumers under pressure and we can see that reflected in our sales numbers. The more recent trading performance through the holiday period supports our view that the brand is resonating with consumers and continues to strengthen.

That said, we are mindful of the challenges facing the consumer as we head into 2023 and remain very cautious about the potential for a soft spring. s a management team we are taking action to seek costs savings initiatives to support our performance. When combined with current margin run-rates and the underperformance of our Wholesale division, we believe it appropriate to amend our adjusted profit before tax guidance to broadly breakeven (previously £10 – 20m).

Notes

1. Autumn/Winter22 defined as week 19, commencing 4 September 2022 through to week 44, commencing 26 February 2023.
2. ‘Adjusted’, ‘Adjusting’, Net working capital  and ‘Net (Debt)/Cash’ are used as alternative performance measures (‘APMs’). Definition of APMs and how they are calculated are disclosed in the financial statements in Note 18 and 22 ‘Net working capital’ has been reconciled within the Finance Review.
3. Retail is a combination of both the Stores and Ecommerce segments.
4. Where commented upon, Full Price Mix is Net full price sales from full price channels, excluding mark-down product but including basket-building mechanics (e.g., 3 for 2 offers) as a proportion of total channel sales.

Market briefing

A webcast for analysts and investors will be held today starting at 9:00, followed by a Q&A with management. The webcast will be available to join live, but questions will be limited to analysts. If you would like to register, please go to https://secure.emincote.com/client/superdry/superdry012. A recording of the event will also be available on our corporate website shortly afterwards.

A separate meeting with an opportunity for retail investors to ask questions will be held at 13:00 through the ‘Investor Meets Company’ platform, register here (https://www.investormeetcompany.com/superdry-plc/register-investor).

For further information:

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Notes to Editors

Our mission is “To be the #1 sustainable style destination” through our distinct collections, defined by consumer style choices. We design affordable, premium quality clothing, accessories and footwear which are sold around the world. We have a clear strategy for delivering continued growth via a multi-channel approach combining Stores, Ecommerce, and Wholesale.

Superdry has 219 physical stores and around 450 franchisees and licensees. We operate in over 50 countries and have over 4,100 colleagues globally.

Cautionary Statement

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition and operational results of Superdry Plc. These statements and forecasts involve risk, uncertainty, and assumptions because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date of this announcement. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. Except as required by law, Superdry Plc has no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to correct any inaccuracies therein.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").

CEO Review

Against a challenging national and global macroeconomic backdrop, the brand turnaround continues to gain momentum and I am pleased with the progress we have made in the first half of this year as we continue with our mission to make Superdry the ‘#1 Sustainable Style Destination’. Presenting our Autumn ranges early and with authority resulted in a successful lead on AW221 outerwear, and delivered strong results, notably in stores where we have seen footfall rising through the period and revenue up 14.3% in the first half, and on third party websites, where we are attracting new customers to the brand. Significantly, this trend has continued and in December we saw retail revenue above pre-Covid levels.

Our store revenue growth was greatest in the UK and the US, where the post-pandemic recovery has been fastest: up 19%. In some of our larger European markets, notably Belgium and Germany, the recovery hasn’t been as quick, with revenue in Europe up only 6.7%. The growth in Ecommerce revenue slowed to 1.6% as consumers reverted to physical retail, but this trend was more than offset by the strong performance of our partner program, which has seen Zalando’s total migration away from Wholesale and this partner platform also completed during the period.

Whilst we have seen a recovery in retail, our Wholesale business has declined by 5.2% during the period. This has been partly driven by the impact of shipment timings, some of which will reverse in the second half. However, there is still a Covid related confidence lag in Wholesale, which we expect to close as our partners see how successful our AW221 range has been through our own channels, giving them confidence to buy for future seasons.

The half-year adjusted loss before tax increased to £(13.6)m in the period, with a return to normal levels of rent and business rates, which was ahead of the sales recovery from OMICRON, particularly in the European markets.

Style and sustainability continue to be the overarching focus in everything we do. Reflecting this, we have simplified our mission further: "To be the #1 Sustainable Style Destination". To achieve this, we are continuing to focus on our four strategic objectives:

• Inspire through product & style
• Engage through social
• Lead through sustainability
• Strong operational foundations to 'Make it happen'.

Inspire Through Product & Style

We continue to deliver a high-quality branded product at great value, and this led to our AW22