Strong e-commerce performance at Superdry partially offsets challenging physical retail trading

Total revenue declined by more than 23 per cent in the first half of the year for Superdry, the global fashion brand headquartered in Cheltenham.

In a statement today, Superdry said that its stores continue to be impacted by Covid-related measures suppressing footfall, particularly in large city centre locations. Like-for-like store trading in the last six weeks of H1 was more than 32 per cent down, with UK trade impacted by continued social distancing measures, partially offset by stronger performance in Europe where footfall declines have been less severe.

As at 5 November, 122 stores are now temporarily closed across England, Wales, France, Belgium and Ireland, with 117 stores still open and trading.

However, its e-commerce is performing well and strengthened through Q2 21, with like-for-like sales up more than 51 per cent in the last six weeks of the first half of the year.

Julian Dunkerton, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Covid-19 continues to disrupt our store and wholesale channels, but this is being partially mitigated by strong sales through our E-commerce operations. This has been an important period for Superdry, with the launch of our full Autumn/Winter 20 ranges and a true focus on using our social channels to reach our customers and bring our brand reset to life.  This activity is delivering record levels of engagement through our influencer-led Autumn campaigns, and we will focus our energies in this area over the coming months led by our new Chief Marketing Officer, Justin Lodge.

"I am particularly proud of our new sustainable ranges, a key step towards our goal of becoming one of the most sustainable clothing brands in the world."

But he warns that the external outlook is very uncertain. "However, we have financial flexibility and are making good progress with our strategy and brand reset. We are determined to do the right thing by all our stakeholders - including colleagues, our retail and wholesale customers and investors - to ensure the business and brand returns to success."

The company said that its brand reset remains on track, despite the current unprecedented levels of disruption and volatility. The company said: "At this stage we are experiencing national and regional lockdowns in the UK and internationally which will restrict the operations of our store estate, however we are focused on maximising revenues over the Black Friday trading period from E-commerce.