Missguided mulls a float as sales soar
SALES at online fashion retailer Missguided have soared 45 per cent since April, paving the way for a potential stock market flotation.
Founder Nitin Passi said it could clock £300 million of sales in the year to March after a surge in demand from shoppers at home. The growth follows turnaround at the retailer which struggled in 2018.
Passi said raising cash from private investors or from the stock market t o accelerate growth further was ‘ something we’ll be exploring’. But he said there was ‘no concrete plan’. Passi added: ‘It’s been a very strong year and the business is now equipped for future growth with an aggressive three-year plan ahead of us.’
Consumer confidence initially ‘fell on its arse’ and distribution costs rose sharply, he said. But sales of loungewear, activewear and nightwear rocketed from April on and the firm targeted overseas markets, particularly the US.
Passi added: ‘We have a quick, agile supply chain so we turned relatively quickly to ride that wave of consumer confidence. The business was running on fumes, the leanest stock we ever had, but we still managed to push some good sales numbers.
‘We’re able to invest aggressively in marketing but if we want to step change our growth that’s when we would potentially look to take on more investment.
‘A couple of years ago it wasn’t even something we could look at. But it’s definitely something we’ll be exploring next year or over the next three to five years.’