Superdry issued another profit warning on Thursday in its trading update for the fourth quarter of the year.
The fashion retailer said that whilst group revenue was up 3.6% over the course of the year, full-year profit was likely to be ‘below the range of market expectations’.
This was attributed to a weaker performance at its online and wholesale, along with steps taken to deliver the company’s new operational strategy.
Overall, full-year group revenue came in at £872 million.
Store sales proved the most encouraging part of the business, with 2.2% growth.
Wholesale revenue was more than 9% lower on the same period last year while its online sales were 4% down.
Superdry recently narrowly re-appointed its founder Julian Dunkerton back to the board after a very public disagreement with its management.
Dunkerton founded the brand in Cheltenham back in 1985, and initially stepped down from the helm in 2014.
However, he returned to the company this year amid a series of profit warnings and after disagreeing with its strategy under his replacement, Euan Sutherland.
Julian Dunkerton, Interim Chief Executive Officer, said:
“I am very excited about being back in the business. There’s a lot to do, but after five weeks, I am more confident than ever that we can restore Superdry to being the design led business with strong brand identity I know it can be. My first priority has been to stabilise the situation, and all of us in the business are putting all our energy into getting the product ranges right and improving the Ecommerce proposition, which are two important steps towards addressing Superdry’s recent weak performance. The impact of the changes we are making will take time to come through in the numbers but I’m confident we are heading in the right direction.”
Peter Williams, Chairman, said:
“I’m delighted to have joined Superdry. This is a fantastic British brand, and I firmly believe that with the plans Julian is putting in place it will be a great success story once again. Today’s statement shows the scale of the challenge ahead of us. The Company’s financial performance won’t be turned around overnight, but we know what we need to do, and we are wasting no time in addressing the challenges which the business faces. This includes ensuring the correct corporate governance structure and Board is in place to guide the business going forward. I believe that we are doing the right things to get the business back on top form and delivering long-term sustainable growth for shareholders.”
Shares in Superdry (LON:SDRY) are currently up +1.17% as of 10:53AM (GMT).