Sosandar hails record quarter over festive period

Women’s fashion retailer Sosandar hailed a record quarter over the festive period on Wednesday, amid a strong performance across all channels.

In an update for the three months to the end of December, the company said revenue grew 23% on the same period a year earlier to £14.3m. Gross margin was 58.3%, up from 56.8% the year before, and like-for-like gross margin - which excludes the rise of wholesale - was 60.7% versus 57.3%.

Sosandar said the strong performance seen in October and November continued into December, with all channels performing well.

The material improvement in gross margin reflects the planned reduction in certain price promotional activity, it said.

Sosandar expects to have opened its first identified store in the UK in Spring. It will also continue to drive sales through its own site and app, further enhance its relationships with third-party partners and further develop its international strategy following launches in Australia and Canada, it said.

"This performance and continued demand demonstrate the strength of the Sosandar brand and unique product range in the key trading period before Christmas," Sosandar said.

"In the lead up to Christmas, the company saw extremely strong sales across all categories with party wear, dresses, tailoring, knitwear and smart trousers being standout items."

Sosandar said it continues to trade in line with market expectations for the current financial year and expects current momentum to be sustained over the final quarter.

For the year to the end of March 2024, market expectations are for revenue of £46.8m and pre-tax profit of £0.1m.