Sosandar’s days of fast sales growth appear to be firmly in the past as the company matures, but it’s now entering a period of improved profitability, despite its ongoing heavy investment.

The womenswear specialist said on Tuesday that the six months to the end of September (H1 FY25) saw revenue of £16.2 million, down from £22.2 million a year earlier “as the group continued to transition away from price promotional activity outside the major scheduled sale events”.

It saw a strong gross margin of 62.2%, versus 55.4% in the previous year, “reflecting margin enhancement prioritisation”. And there was a positive swing to a £0.7 million pre-tax loss compared to a £1.3 million pre-tax loss in H1 FY24 “as a result of margin enhancement and continued careful cost management”.

The period saw it “successfully” opening its first four own stores, “with strong trading across all stores, coupled with a demonstrable uplift in traffic to the website in the areas where the stores are located”.

We’re told the shops “have strong footfall and conversion, and we have seen circa 65% of purchases in store being made by brand new customers”.

Also “product across all categories continued to resonate with customers with particularly strong sales of denim, holiday wear and dresses in the summer months and partywear and knitwear as we have moved into autumn”.

Trading with well-established third-party partners, including Next and M&S, “has continued to be strong” and the company also launched in-store with Arnotts in Dublin, Ireland, in September, after initially selling online through Arnotts’ website.

Meanwhile, since the second half started, trading has been “in line with full year market expectations” (it’s expecting revenue of £40.5 million and profit before tax of £1 million). Margin and profit “continue to show a significant positive swing versus last year” with the average gross margin at 64%, up from 62.2%.

The company said revenue in October and November is “providing further evidence of the performance that we anticipated as customers become accustomed to paying full price”.

Co-CEOs Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: “The past six months have been incredibly important steps in Sosandar’s development. We are now well on our way to becoming a true multichannel retailer following the opening of our first four stores during the half. Seeing the Sosandar brand on high streets, and the reaction we have received so far, validates our decision to give our customers more ways to shop with our brand. Post-period-end we signed an agreement with Next for our brand to be licensed to develop a homeware range, providing further validation of the strength of the Sosandar brand. This shows the leverage and brand equity that we have built and will allow us to broaden our reach into new audiences and enable existing customers to deepen their affinity to our brand.

“Trading in the second half of the financial year to date has been encouraging, across all our channels, as we head into peak season. In the lead up to Christmas we have seen extremely strong sales of occasionwear, knitwear, including knitted dresses, and denim.

“Looking ahead, we remain incredibly excited for what lies ahead for Sosandar as we take advantage of the multiple opportunities available to us, and we take the Sosandar brand to more customers across the UK and worldwide and continue on our journey to become one of the largest womenswear brands globally.”