The e-commerce specialist Global Fashion Group SA (GFG) had to accept a drop in sales in the first quarter of the financial year. In addition, the operating loss was higher than in the same period of the previous year. This emerges from the latest figures published by the company on Thursday. The group operates the online fashion shops Dafiti in Latin America, Zalora in Southeast Asia and The Iconic in Australia and New Zealand.
Sales from continuing operations – i.e. excluding the share of the Lamoda trading platform active in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which the group sold last December – amounted to EUR 198.5 million in the months from January to December. It thus missed the level of the same quarter of the previous year by 10.6 percent (currency-adjusted -10.1 percent). Net merchandise volume (NMV), which also includes sales of partner brands on the company’s online platforms, fell by 6.7 percent at constant currency to 303.3 million euros.
Due to the decline in sales, the group slipped deeper into the red. The loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for special effects grew by 46 percent to EUR 24.0 million compared to the same period of the previous year, the loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased from EUR 29.5 to 40.1 million.
Despite the difficult first quarter, management confirmed its guidance for the year. It still expects an NMV in the range of approximately EUR 1.5 billion to EUR 1.6 billion and sales of approximately EUR 1.0 billion for 2023. According to current expectations, the EBITDA margin adjusted for special effects will probably be between -3 and -1 percent. The company emphasized that it is still striving to reach the break-even point in 2024 for EBITDA adjusted for special effects.