In The Style has filed its accounts for the year to the end of March and they don’t paint a pretty picture of the company’s business in the period. But there are some clear signs in the numbers and the accompanying commentary that things might be improving.

The firm, which is based in Manchester, posted a pre-tax loss of £2.6 million in the year, although that was at least narrower than the £7.7 million loss of the previous 12 months.

Adjusted EBITDA was a profit of £1.434 million after a loss of £4.29 million in the previous period, but the net loss for the year was £2.61 million, although again, this was better than the deficit of £8.477 million the year before.

All that came as revenue plummeted from £45.9 million a year earlier to £30.4 million this time. It looks even worse when you consider that the company generated revenue of £57.3 million two years ago.

That revenue fall included UK revenue dropping from £42.7 million a year ago to £29 million this time, while the rest of Europe saw revenue of less than half the previous year’s £2.7 million at £1.2 million last year. And in the rest of the world, the fall was equally dramatic with a drop from £0.43 million to £0.178 million.

It’s no surprise that the company cut jobs during the period with headcount dropping to 140 from 179 as it worked to reduce costs, automate more of its processes and reduce duplication of tasks.

The company said FY24 was a year of realignment and resetting operating practices. It has also been looking carefully at its business intelligence and reporting suite to surface the right data “on which to make robust trading decisions”.

It said that it has been able to drive significant margin improvements despite the reduction in top-line sales and has reduced price promotions with a higher proportion of sales at full-price being achieved. This has had the benefit of improving the brand image and reducing the tendency of consumers to wait for the next heavy discount period before they buy. 

Its product proposition has also evolved to feature ITS branded collections and the newly launched fITS brand more prominently and where net contribution is significantly higher than collaboration based collections. That’s an undeniably interesting development given that celebrity and influencer collaborations had been the primary focus of the brand for its entire history.

Celebrity and influencer marketing remains central to its proposition however, and the year in question saw the delivery of over 130 collaboration launches.

It also said that its new unit economics now provide “a solid platform from which to grow” its reach and “deliver profitable sales”. Wholesale is a part of this and it’s continuing to explore opportunities to introduce retailers with a physical presence to place its proposition in front of the consumers it wants to reach.

While founder Adam Frisby is no longer involved with the business, having cut all ties in recent months, the results come as the company prepares to make a return to the stock exchange. It first listed in 2021 and had a market value at the time of £105 million but was in danger of an administration filing two years later when it sold itself for only £1.2 million.

It has been in talks with London-listed Iconic Labs over a reverse takeover since March and that could mean its shares trading once again, although it’s likely that investors may be more cautious given what’s happened to it in the past. 

The experience of other listed fashion companies may also encourage some caution. Ted Baker, Laura Ashley, Superdry, Sosandar, Seraphine, JD Sports, Boohoo Group, ASOS, Burberry, Mulberry, Frasers Group, Dr Martens and more have (or had) struggled on the stock exchange. Some of them failed or were taken private, others are still battling a disappointing recent share price performance.

But others like Next and M&S have proved that fashion retailers can be good investments.