Quiz shares nosedive as fashion group plunges to a loss

Quiz swung to a loss over the past year after sales slumped amid cost-of-living pressures on shoppers.

Sheraz Ramzan, chief executive of Quiz, said his performance had been ‘disappointing’ but stressed he was committed to the group’s turnaround strategy.

The retailer reported a pre-tax loss of £6.7million for the year to 31 March in the delayed update, as it slid from a £2.3million profit a year earlier.

Annual loss: Quiz swung to a loss during the past year after sales slumped amid cost-of-living pressures on shoppers

Revenue fell by 10.6 percent to £82 million, which Quiz blamed on ‘the impact of cost-of-living pressures on consumer demand’.

The retailer’s share price fell 17.55 per cent or 0.89p to 4.18p on Thursday, having slumped over 55 per cent in the last year.

Quiz saw particularly weak online sales, falling 18 per cent to £24.5 million for the year.

Sales from stores and concessions were 8 percent lower, at £41.7 million.

The group said its number of active customers fell by 19 percent to 521,000 for the year.

Quiz added that sales continued to decline into the new financial year, with total sales down 11.1 percent to £27.3 million for the four months to 31 July.

The retailer said it ‘continues to be impacted by inflationary pressures impacting consumer confidence’.

However, it hopes to see a positive effect from a turnaround strategy launched earlier this year.

The strategy includes efforts to refocus itself further towards ‘occasion wear and dressy categories’, improvements to its store portfolio and a restructuring of its buying and merchandising operations.

Ramzan said: ‘Whilst these results are disappointing – in part driven by the challenging macroeconomic conditions impacting many retailers – we have a clear plan to improve performance by leveraging our key strengths as an omni-channel retailer with a distinctive brand.

‘In the new financial year to date we have already implemented several operational initiatives which I am confident will support our longer-term turnaround strategy.

‘Whilst trading conditions in the current year have remained challenging and our turnaround will take time, I am pleased with the speed at which as a team we have been able to drive positive changes in the business.’

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