Sosandar back in black as sales surge

The fashion retailer said it expects pre-tax profit to be £400,000 for the year to March 31, 2026, up from a loss of £100,000 the year before.

Sales surged 14% in the period to £42.3m, driven by a 24% uplift from its own website. However, this fell short of its £43.1m expectations.

Sosandar attributed the revenue growth to a mix of increased traffic, improved conversion and increased order volumes from new and existing customers.

All categories performed well, from occasion wear through to casual wear, demonstrating our ability to translate trends into a distinctive Sosandar aesthetic, the retailer added.

Trading on the Next total platform remained “robust” during the period, and sales via M&S have “gradually resumed following their cyber incident, with stock intake now back to expected levels”.

The retailer said in November that it experienced five months of “no material revenue” from M&S after the high street giant was forced to go offline following an attack on its systems.

Sosandar reported its store estate delivered a “positive uplift” in performance during the year, with those in their second year and located in market towns performing most strongly.

It said that its brick-and-mortar estate continues to weigh on overall profitability, especially those in shopping centres, until they mature and that it does not anticipate any new openings for the foreseeable future.