Shortly before Christmas, the British fast fashion retailer Quiz Plc announced that it would withdraw from the stock market as part of its restructuring efforts. The current half-year figures that the ailing company published on Friday made clear how great the need for reform is.
In the six months before September 30, 2024, sales amounted to 39.1 million British pounds (47.2 million euros). This corresponded to a decrease of 7.6 percent compared to the same period last year. In the online business, revenues fell by 15.9 percent to 10.6 million British pounds; in the British stores and concessions they fell by 7.7 percent to 20.3 million British pounds.
The half-year loss is almost five times as high as in the previous year
The company attributed the losses to generally weak demand and lower frequencies. Growth of 6.5 percent to 8.2 million British pounds in international business could not come close to making up for the decline in sales in the domestic market.
The negative sales development and higher operating costs ensured that the operating loss grew from 1.3 to 4.2 million British pounds. At around 5.8 million British pounds (7.0 million euros), the reported net loss was almost five times as high as in the first half of the previous year, in which it was just under 1.2 million British pounds.
The company warns of additional burdens due to rising wages and taxes
Even the Christmas business failed to bring about a significant upward trend for the company. Due to weak demand in its own stores, sales in December fell short of management’s expectations, the clothing supplier admitted. At the beginning of December he had already presented sobering results for the previous months of the current financial year.
The company also warned that the positive effects of the austerity measures already implemented would be offset this year by additional burdens resulting from increases in minimum wages and social security contributions in Great Britain. The British government announced these measures at the end of October.