The US fashion rental company Rent the Runway Inc. increased its sales significantly in the third quarter of the 2022/23 financial year and more than halved its loss. This emerges from an interim report that the company published on Wednesday evening.
Accordingly, sales in the period from August to October reached a new record level of 77.4 million US dollars (73.5 million euros). Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, this means an increase of 31 percent. The number of active registered users of the fashion rental service increased by 15 percent year-on-year.
In addition, a higher gross margin contributed to a significant improvement in earnings. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for special effects amounted to 6.6 million US dollars after a corresponding deficit of 5.6 million US dollars had to be booked in the same period last year. Reported net loss was $36.1 million, less than half the $87.8 million for the same period last year (-59 percent) .
CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman was accordingly satisfied with the current results: “I am pleased to be able to report that we were able to exceed our forecasts for sales and adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter,” she said in a statement. “We are also raising our forecast for the year as a whole, despite the difficult conditions.”
The revenue target, previously set at $285-290 million, has been increased to $293-295 million. The EBITDA margin adjusted for special effects should now reach around one percent in the current financial year, after previously expecting -2 to zero percent. Rent the Runway had implemented drastic austerity measures in the past few months. The restructuring plan is now “essentially complete,” Hyman said.