Sosandar says the "future is bright" as sales rise 6%

Sosandar, the fast-growing womenswear brand, reported sales up 6% in the six months to 30 September and said trading has been strong since with November having been a record month.

Revenues reached £22.2 million in the first half of the financial year to September, while sales in October and November alone hit £10 million. Loss before tax of £1.3 million was recorded for the first half, but the company said that both October and November had achieved positive pre-tax profit.

Reduced promotional activity helped gross margin increase by 430bps versus H1 FY23 from 55.4% to 59.8%.

Sosandar said sales had been strong via its own website but also through third-party partners, such as NEXT and Marks & Spencer. It also opened new fashion concept stores in branches of Sainsbury's and signed an agreements with online giant Freemans.

It also has its sights set on international growth and launched an integration with Global-e to enable it to transact and fulfil orders worldwide to over 60 countries in a cost-effective manner. Two major international third-party agreements have been set up, including one with The Bay in Canada, which is expected to launch during the latter part H2 FY24.

Co-founders and co-CEOs Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: "Over the past six months, we have made significant steps on our journey to become a multi-channel retailer whilst also expanding the reach of the Sosandar brand. We are delighted to have launched new partnerships with Sainsbury's and Freemans, signed our first agreements with two large prestigious international third-party partners and announced that we intend to open our first own stores in Spring 2024.

"Our product remains the key driver of our success and keeps our customers returning to us for their wardrobe needs. Throughout the period, we saw growth across all product ranges with particular success in our summer occasion wear and beach and swim ranges over the summer. In the lead up to Christmas we have seen extremely strong sales across all categories with party wear, dresses, tailoring, knitwear and smart trousers being standout items.

"Trading in the second half of the financial year to date has been encouraging, in line with full year market expectations, with November a record month of trading. This strong performance has been delivered across all our channels.

"Looking ahead, we believe that the future is very bright as we take the Sosandar brand to more customers across the UK and worldwide and move further towards reaching our strategic goal of delivering £100m+ revenues and a pre-tax profit margin of at least 10% in the medium term."