Fashion retailer Superdry saw first-half profit all but wiped out as its new leadership sought to address what it regards as the missteps of the previous management.
The group, now led by co-founder and chief executive Julian Dunkerton after a boardroom coup in April, said on Thursday it made an underlying pretax profit of £200,000 (€326,000) in the 26 weeks to October 26th versus £12.9 million (€15.2 million) in the same period last year.
Legacy issues
Revenue fell 11 per cent to £369.1 million (€436.1 million), as Mr Dunkerton, also the group’s biggest shareholder with an 18.5 per cent stake, tackled “legacy issues” across the business. He is focusing on full price sales and reducing promotional activity. That hurt revenue but is helping gross margins to recover.
Superdry reported a statutory pretax loss of £4.2 million (€4.9 million), reflecting exceptional charges, versus a profit of £26.4 million (€31.2 million) last time.
Mr Dunkerton cautioned it will take two to three years to turn Superdry around. – Reuters
