Retailer’s share price slumps to all-time low

Superdry’s share price crashed to an all-time low after the fashion retailer issued its third profit warning of the year.

Shares in the Cheltenham-headquartered company were down more than 20% in early trading after “unseasonal weather” was blamed for more underwhelming sales. It ended the day down 15% at 34.5p.

The clothing brand had already underperformed expectations in January and April, and its slump has continued.

Superdry was founded in 2003 and went public in 2010. At the start of 2018 Superdry’s shares briefly peaked above 2000p, valuing the retailer at £1.9bn. Since then its share price is down 98% and its share price values the company at around £35m.

Julian Dunkerton

Julian Dunkerton, who is the company’s founder and chief executive for a second time, said “this has been a difficult year for the business” when he announced full-year losses of £148m in the year to April.

If anything, trading has become more difficult since. In the first half of the year, retail sales were down 13% and wholesale dropped 41% – albeit worsened by the decision to exit its US wholesale operation.

In the last six weeks, like-for-like sales are down 7% despite the arrival of winter weather.

Dunkerton said: “The unseasonal weather through the early autumn led to a delayed uptake of our Autumn/Winter range and this impacted sales in the first half of the year.

“Whilst we have seen modest signs of improvement through the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging, and this is reflected in the weaker than expected business performance.”

Dunkerton did point to “operational progress” the business has made, raising £28m through the IP sale for the South Asian region to Reliance Brands and “strong progress” on its £35m cost efficiency programme.

Superdry’s share price has been in freefall since mid-2021: