Joules Group PLC (LON:JOUL) said it expects the new restrictions to hit group revenues by £14-18mln if they were to continue through to April 1.
However, performance in the year to May 30 should be protected by better-than-expected sales and profits in the last seven months, strong momentum of digital sales and cost-cutting initiatives such as head office costs and lease renegotiations.
READ: Joules expects interim profits to drop despite e-commerce growth
In the seven weeks to January 3, total revenue through the fashion designer’s own-branded retail channels was flat.
Online sales soared 66% thanks to traffic growth and improved conversion rates, with the active customer base continuing to grow and reaching 1.5mln people at the end of the period.
Store sales plummeted 58% due to enforced closures of non-essential retail and, when they were allowed to trade, revenue was 23% lower when compared to the corresponding prior year periods, reflecting lower overall footfall trends.
As of January 3, the AIM-listed firm had net cash of £13mln and total liquidity headroom of £63mln.
House broker Liberum cut underlying earnings (EBITDA) expectations to £11mln from £13mln and sales forecasts to £184mln from £190mln for the full year.
Analysts said Joules’ “clear resilience” is due to a product offer that continues to resonate with consumers, continual growth in the active customer base, and “a truly multi-channel model, that has been bolstered by timely investment into systems and infrastructure”.
Shares rose 1% to 183.4p on Thursday at the opening bell.