27 January 2024 , 14:50
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Clothing company Superdry could shut up to 96 stores amid a massive restructuring move, experts understand.
The streetwear chain, which combines vintage American styling with Japanese-inspired graphics, is understood to be considering a "radical" restructuring including job losses after reporting poor Christmas sales.
Superdry is assessing its options and has approached financial advisors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), according to reports. It is said to be considering entering a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a form of insolvency. It's thought this will lead to up to 96 branch closures across the country and the loss of jobs. It employs more than 3,300 people in the UK.
A CVA is a way for a business to restructure but continue to keep trading, but typically it closes some stores and negotiates rent costs down. It is a legally binding agreement with the company’s creditors, which allows a proportion of its debts to be paid back over time.
Superdry decided to close eight stores in the summer of last year, including shops in Ipswich and Telford and Lincoln. These ones were operated by the firm's franchisee under licence from Superdry.
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But in August, Superdry secured up to £25million in funding from Hilco Capital. The business said the extra funding would help accelerate its £35million cost reduction programme, announced in April.
This week, bosses warned the company’s fortunes could still take some time to turn around, as the market is unlikely to "get any easier" in the near term, as the business said that Christmas had been challenging.
The clothing firm said that its revenue had fallen by nearly a quarter (23.5 per cent) to £219.8million in the six months to the end of October, with adjusted loss nearly doubling to £25.3million, reports Sky News.
Chief executive Julian Dunkerton told Sky: "Christmas trading proved challenging, and we do not expect market conditions to get any easier in the near term. This has clearly been a difficult period for Superdry.
"A challenging consumer retail market, set against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty and some remarkably unseasonal weather conditions have all combined to weaken the financial performance of the group."
Superdry declined to comment to the Mirror on the new developments.