15th Jul 2025 12:21
(Alliance News) - Sosandar PLC on Tuesday reduced its earnings guidance for the year ahead in light of a cyberattack at Marks & Spencer Group PLC, and reported improved margins and a narrowed loss during its most recent financial year.
Shares in Sosandar were down 22% at 6.25 pence in London on Tuesday afternoon. The stock is down 39% over the past year.
The Cheshire, England-based online women's fashion brand said its pretax loss narrowed to GBP67,000 during the year that ended March 31, from a GBP332,000 loss the year before.
This was despite revenue declining 20% to GBP37.1 million from GBP46.3 million, which Sosandar said reflected a "deliberate transition" away from price promotional activity in a bid to improve its gross margin.
Gross margin was 62.1% for the year, up from 57.6% in the prior year.
Administrative expenses were reduced by 15% to GBP22.9 million from GBP27.0 million, and cost of sales decreased 28% to GBP14.1 million from GBP19.6 million.
"During the last year we've strengthened the foundations of the business, which will enable us to deliver our growth and profit ambitions going forwards. Taking the decision to reduce price promotions has resulted in an expected reduction in revenue but significantly improved margins and cash generation which, in turn, has allowed the group to maintain a robust balance sheet and self-fund its growth plan," said Co-Chief Executive Officers Ali Hall and Julie Lavington.
"The opening of our first stores was a milestone for Sosandar, and we are pleased with how we have brought our brand to life in the physical retail environment. We have taken clear learnings from the trajectory of our stores in market towns versus shopping centres and are focused on getting our existing portfolio to profitability before opening any further stores. This decision, alongside the continuing impact from the Marks & Spencer cyber incident on our third-party sales, means we are moderating our expectations for revenue and profit growth in the current year."
Sosandar products are available on the M&S online shop.
Sosandar now expects revenue for financial 2026 to be 18% higher at GBP43.6 million, with a pretax profit forecast of GBP400,000. This is downgraded from a company-compiled market consensus for GBP46.2 million in revenue and GBP1.5 million in adjusted pretax profit.
Co-CEOs Hall and Lavington continued: "Nonetheless, we believe we are now at an inflection point, with the foundations laid for profitable, cash generative growth, and we have returned to revenue growth in Q1 FY26. We will continue to leverage our brand equity and scale the business through our multiple channels and are excited for what lies ahead for Sosandar."
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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