Superdry turn-round ‘will take time to fix’
RETURNING Superdry boss Julian Dunkerton insists he can restore the fashion brand he co-founded to former glory but warned there would be no quick fix after it sank to an £85.4milllion loss.
Dunkerton, the biggest investor with 18 per cent and interim chief executive, won a bitter battle to rejoin the board in April, prompting all the directors to quit.
This was quickly followed by its third profit warning in eight months and yesterday’s plunge into the red from last year’s £65.3million profit came after it wrote down the value of its stores to take impairment charges of £129.5million.
Dunkerton, who was joined by Peter Williams, former chairman at online fashion retailer Boohoo as chairman, had accused the previous leadership of allowing an exodus of talent.
He claimed the business had suffered from stock and fixtures being removed from stores, while its online operation needed an overhaul.
Group revenue was flat at £871.7million, with underlying profit down 56.8 per cent to £41.9million.
Dunkerton said: “The issues in the business will not be resolved overnight. My first priority on returning has been to steady the ship and get the culture of the business back to the one which drove its original success.
“All the team are working incredibly hard to deliver the direction set out, with a real focus on returning the business to its design-led roots and getting the retail basics right. Our initiatives are gaining some early traction.” He said he sees the financial year as one of “reset”. Sales are expected to fall slightly.
Shares fell 8½p to 439p.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “No one was expecting Dunkerton to quickly revive Superdry but the market is clearly miffed that the guidance for the new financial year is declining revenue.”