Sosandar’s losses are shrinking as the retailer scales back discounts

Sosandar’s losses fell sharply in the first half as the women’s fashion brand continued to sell more products at full price.

The retailer announced that pre-tax losses fell 51 per cent to £659,000 in the six months ended September, compared to around £1.3 million in the same period last year.

Since 2023, the Cheshire-based company has reduced promotional activities outside of major planned events as part of its transition to a multi-channel business.

While this has contributed to sales falling 27 percent to £16.2 million in the last half year, the company’s gross margins have increased by 6.8 percentage points to 62.2 percent.

Sosandar said gross margins continued to rise in October and November to an average of 64 percent, while trading was in line with annual forecasts.

For the year to March 2025, the group expects turnover of £40.5 million and pre-tax profit of £1 million.

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, joint CEOs of Sosandar, noted that the group has had “extremely strong sales” of occasionwear, knit dresses and denim ahead of the peak Christmas season.

The company also recently opened a location in Cardiff’s St David’s Centre, its fourth store following the launch of branches in Marlow, Chelmsford and Gateshead’s Metrocentre earlier this year.

“Seeing the Sosandar brand on the high street and the response we have received so far validates our decision to offer our customers more ways to shop with our brand,” Hall and Lavington said.

They added: ‘Looking ahead, we remain incredibly excited about what lies ahead for Sosandar, as we take advantage of the many opportunities available to us, and bring the Sosandar brand to more customers in the UK and globally.’

Earlier this month, Sosandar signed a licensing deal with clothing giant Next for a new range of homewares, expected to launch next fall.

Under the deal, Next will exclusively sell a set of accessories and living room furniture from the Sosandar brand, such as sofas, accent chairs and lighting.

Hall and Lavington said it “demonstrates the influence and brand equity we have built and will allow us to broaden our reach to new audiences and enable existing customers to deepen their affinity with our brand.”

After a career in the publishing world, the pair founded Sosandar in 2016 to sell high-quality clothing to ‘fashion-conscious’ women over the age of 30.

The brand’s celebrity fans include television presenters Susanna Reid, Christine Lampard, Lorraine Kelly and Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden.

Sosandar’s shares were up 6.3 percent at 9.3 cents late Tuesday afternoon, but are still down about 40 percent since the start of the year.