The loss of the e-commerce group Global Fashion Group SA (GFG) continued to grow in the 2022 financial year. The overall “weaker market environment” also slowed down sales development. This emerges from current figures presented by the company on Wednesday.
The sales contribution of the online platform Lamoda, which is active in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, is no longer included in the results that have now been published. The Global Fashion Group sold the segment to Russian investor Iakov Panchenko in December. From the beginning of the year to the time of the sale, Lamoda had achieved sales of 794.4 million euros.
The group of companies now only operates the online fashion shops Dafiti in Latin America, Zalora in Southeast Asia and The Iconic in Australia and New Zealand. Together, the three divisions generated sales of EUR 1.10 billion last year, exceeding the 2021 level by 6.4 percent. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, however, sales increased only slightly (+0.1 percent). Net merchandise volume (NMV), which also includes sales from partner brands on the company’s online platforms, grew by 5.6 percent to EUR 1.61 million, but fell slightly after adjusting for currency effects (-0.7 percent).
Due to cost increases, the group’s losses increased. The deficit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for special effects was 40.8 million euros, more than twice as high as in the previous year, when it was 19.0 million euros. The loss from continued operations grew by 43.9 percent to 178.4 million euros. The reported net loss attributable to the shareholders, which also includes the earnings contributions from the parts of the company that have since been sold, rose by 58.1 percent to EUR 196.3 million.
The group announced that it will shift its focus from further sales growth to improving profitability in the future. For 2023, he therefore expects revenue and NMV to be at best at prior-year levels, while operating margin will increase as a result of better cost management. In 2024, the break-even point should be reached for EBITDA adjusted for special effects.