Christmas sales soar at newly listed QUIZ

AIM-listed multichannel fashion retailer QUIZ has emerged as one of Christmas 2017's retail winners as it has revealed that its sales jumped by almost 32% over the festive trading period.

The Glasgow-based business, which entered London's junior stock market in July of last year, revealed this morning that group revenue was up 31.9% in the seven-week period to 6 January, a performance it said was in line with expectations.

QUIZ said it had experienced strong full-price sales in the lead-up to Christmas which meant gross margins also remained in line with expectations.

Online revenue was up 119% as it saw strong growth through its own website as well as through those of its partners and international sales were up 51.1%.

Standalone stores and concessions also performed strongly with sales increasing by 11.6% during the period. In December, the business opened its fifth new standalone store of the financial year in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol bringing UK stores’ and concessions’ retail square footage as at 6 January 2018 to 192,000 sq ft (January 2017: 185,000 sq ft).

CEO Tarak Ramzan said: “We are pleased with QUIZ’s continued strong momentum across the Group’s omni-channel business model during the important Christmas trading period. This growth reflects the strength of our brand and the appeal of our products to customers who want the latest looks at fantastic value.

“We are continuing to execute our growth plans in each area of the business, underpinned by continued investment in our marketing, people and infrastructure. We continue to look forward with confidence as we build on our strategy to develop QUIZ as a global fast-fashion brand.”