Sosandar in style as online sales soar

The AIM-listed online retailer, which was launched by two former fashion magazine executives to provide "what women want", saw revenues soar to £1.8m as customers increased 362% through the half.

Sosandar its gross margin for the six months ended 30 September to jump from 46% to 55%.

Order numbers came in at 43,979, significantly ahead of the 8,049 seen during the same period a year earlier, while average order value increased to £105.42.

The firm also said strong sales seen throughout the summer and early autumn had led to record monthly revenues in September.

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, Sosandar's joint chief executives and former Look magazine editor publishing director respectively, said: "The business has made substantial progress over the first six months of the year, and we are delighted to have delivered such strong growth in revenues, orders and new customers."

"At the same time, we have been able to make key operational progress that will further enhance the customer experience and have increased the efficiency of our marketing spend. Momentum has continued into the important autumn period and we look forward to the rest of the year confidently."

Elsewhere, Sosandar revealed it had raised £3m via a placing of 9.37m new ordinary shares at a price of 32p each.

Sosandar undertook the placing in order to "further drive the company's development", with net proceeds to be used to support it's ongoing growth plans and the execution of its stated strategy.

As of 0820 BST, Sosandar shares had shot up 7.14% to 39p.