Superdry’s recorded a nosedive in pre-tax profits at the interim mark but boss Julian Dunkerton said he was “pleased with the progress” made by the retailer.

The fashion retailer posted a 98.4% cascade in underlying pre-tax profit before the impact of IFRS 16 to £200,000 26 weeks to October 26, exacerbated by an 11% drop in total group revenue to £369.1m.

On a statutory basis, Superdry swung to a pre-tax loss of £4.2m compared with a profit of £26.4m during the same period the previous year.

The fashion retailer said its sales decline “reflects an expected year of reset, as we address a number of legacy issues across the business.”

Superdry said that revenue in it second quarter was stronger than in the first quarter as “key initiatives were implemented”, as well as being aided by the retailer’s “strongest online Black Friday day ever.”

The retailer’s gross margin dipped 0.1bps during the period to 56.3% due to foreign exchange headwind and stock accounting changes of 80bps, but was up 250bps excluding these impact as the business focused on full-price sales and reduced promotional activity.

Chief executive Julian Dunkerton said: “At this halfway point in our financial year, I am pleased with the progress we have made to comprehensively reset Superdry.

“We’re doing this through our product and brand, our physical and digital retail operations and a renewed focus on the retailing basics. 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.

“I am also pleased with the trajectory of performance we have seen from Q1 to Q2 and subsequently into our peak trading period, which gave us our biggest online trading day ever. However, we remain cautious about the challenging market conditions over the peak trading period.”