Superdry PLC (LON:SDRY) has warned sales since Black Friday have been £23mln lower than expected due to heavy price-cutting, a poor Boxing Day sale and some of its most popular ranges selling out.
Underlying profits for the year to April will now be in the range of zero to £10mln, said the fashion clothing group which has been going through a major overhaul since founder and chief executive Julian Dunkerton took over again last year.
Dunkerton wants to return the group to selling at full prices, but warned that promotional activity on the high street has been unprecedented recently with the need to clear old stock also affecting revenues.
Superdry added it does not expect the impact of recent design and product changes to come through until the Autumn/Winter 2020 season.
Revenues overall in the ten weeks to 4 January dropped by 15.8% and stores, e-commerce and wholesale all saw marked declines though the proportion of full-priced sales rose sharply in all areas.
Dunkerton repeated it will take time to turn Superdry around especially returning to full-price sales and reducing promotional activity.
“Despite this, our disciplined plan to reinvigorate the brand and return Superdry to sustainable long-term growth is on track."
The retailer reported a loss of £4.2mln for the half-year to October.
Peel Hunt said the new profit forecast ( 0-£10mln) compares to its estimate beforehand of £18,9mln, though this reflects some 'kitchen-sinking' by Dunkerton and his team.
"The recovery remains as drawn-out as ever, with more questions likely to be raised around heritage product lines," the broker said.