TIDMSOS
RNS Number : 5588M
Sosandar PLC
09 January 2019
Date: 09 January 2019
On behalf of: Sosandar plc ('Sosandar' or 'the Company')
Embargoed until: 0700hrs
Sosandar plc
Trading Update
Continued momentum with record quarter for revenue and KPIs
Revenue for the full year now expected to be slightly ahead of
current market expectations
Sosandar PLC (AIM: SOS), the online women's fashion brand, is
delighted to announce the following trading update for the three
months ended December 2018.
Momentum has continued throughout autumn and into winter as the
Company experienced a record quarter for revenue, orders, site
visits and conversion. Revenue for the period was slightly ahead of
our expectations at GBP1.6m, a 219% increase on the same period in
2017 and higher than the Company's revenue for the entire prior
financial year.
Highlights for the three months ended 31 December 2018 vs same
period 2017:
-- Strong revenue growth achieved, driven by a surge in repeat
orders and continued new customer acquisition
-- Sosandar's unique designs, coupled with high quality fabrics
at affordable price points are driving customers' growing loyalty
to the brand:
o Customer database increased 209% to nearly 100,000
o Conversion rate increased 129bps to 3.47%
o Average order value increased 10% to GBP105.58
o Repeat orders increased 527% to over 20,000
-- Number of orders increased 221% to 35,183
-- Gross margin for the quarter (includes the seasonal sale
period) at 53.3%, up 500bps on the same period last year assisted
by holding full price during Black Friday period.
-- The efficiency of the Company's customer acquisition
activities across multiple channels increased, with CPA again
showing significant improvement vs prior year
-- The growing customer base and economies of scale in the
business are creating efficiencies with EBITDA loss down on prior
year
-- Returns were at 49%, having decreased slightly over the
period as anticipated, reflecting the different product mix in
Autumn/Winter
-- Strong balance sheet with net cash of GBP4.6m as at 31 December 2018
Sosandar's content-driven marketing strategy, utilised across
all its digital and print media platforms, has been further
enhanced by a diverse and growing celebrity and social influencer
fanbase. New celebrities seen wearing Sosandar clothing include Zoe
Ball, Susanna Reid, Melanie Sykes and Una Healy.
Following the successful repeat order increase driven by the
Company's previous investment in customer acquisition, Sosandar
will continue to invest further into the brand through imagery and
marketing to drive continued strong top line growth. Accordingly,
and as a result of the strong trading so far this year, the Company
expects revenue for the full year to be slightly ahead of current
market expectations with the net loss for the year in line.
Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Joint CEOs, commented:
"We are pleased to be reporting another period of substantial
growth over the key trading months to 31 December driven by strong
full price sales and high sell through rates, combined with a
successful seasonal sale at the end of period. We are delighted by
the engagement we are building with our customers, evidenced by the
increase in visits, orders and especially conversion and margins
which are already comparing favourably with established
businesses.
"We are selling well across existing categories such as
partywear and leather, and also seeing a promising performance in
new areas such as loungewear and accessories. Combined with a
substantial increase in repeat orders and a significant uplift in
conversion rates to 3.47%, this highlights the underlying quality
of our products and the sizeable growth opportunities we have with
the Sosandar brand."
Enquiries
Sosandar plc www.sosandar.com
Julie Lavington / Ali Hall, Joint c/o Alma PR
CEOs
Shore Capital
Patrick Castle / Mark Percy / James
Thomas +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Alma PR Limited (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Susie Hudson sosandar@almapr.co.uk
/ Sam Modlin
About Sosandar PLC
Sosandar is an online womenswear brand, specifically targeted at
a generation of women who have graduated from throwaway fashion and
are looking for quality, affordable clothing with a premium,
trend-led aesthetic. This is a section of the market that is
currently being underserved.
Sosandar was launched in September 2016. The Sosandar business
model is built around using trend-led, exclusive designs produced
in-house and then manufactured using a variety of global suppliers.
Sosandar caters for a growing market of fashion conscious women,
while utilising an outsourced logistics provider that can support
its planned growth over the coming years.
Sosandar's founders are Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, who
previously launched and ran high street fashion magazine Look, as
editor and publishing director respectively. They have a combined
experience of over 35 years in the fashion industry, including in
the design, manufacture and sale of fashion ranges for some of the
UK's high street retailers, including Debenhams, Office, Oasis and
JD Williams.
More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com
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END
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