Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton has expressed that he is "pleased with progress" the fashion retailer has accomplished despite reporting a half-year loss.
Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton commended the company's progress despite posting a loss for the first half of 2019. According to Dunkerton, reviving Superdry would "take two to three years" and that he will be staying at the firm until 2021.
The company posted a loss of £4.2 million in the six months to October 26 compared with a profit of £26.4 million during the same period last year. Meanwhile, revenues fell by 11% to £369.1 million after the company decided to focus on full price sales and reduce promotions to boost profit margins.
Despite these numbers, Superdry said its decline in retail sales had moderated during the six months.
Dunkerton said: "At this halfway point in our financial year, I am pleased with the progress we have made to comprehensively reset Superdry. We are only eight months into a process that will take two to three years, but I have great confidence in the strength of our new executive leadership team."
Dunkerton stepped down from the board in March 2018 but in April, he returned to the company after campaigning against the previous management team. He narrowly won a shareholder vote, forcing the executives to resign en masse.
According to him, the company, which he co-founded in 2003, had overextended its range of products and needed to focus more on the jackets and hoodies that made it famous.
Retail analyst Richard Lim from Retail Economics, said: "As the boardroom shenanigans begin to settle, these results demonstrate the size of the task at hand". Lim argued that returning to a business' original roots "remains a questionable strategy given the sheer pace of change in the industry".
"Returning to a brand that once had a point of differentiation, a reason to visit stores and a point of view will be no easy feat," he added.
