Quiz’s shares plummeted after February and March sales fell due to consumers tightening their belts.
The group also cautioned that pressures on consumer expenditure were likely to persist and could have an impact on demand for its products, thereby reducing visibility for the coming year.
Quiz sells partywear and upscale casual wear in its 62 UK locations and concessions in New Look.
The London-listed company emphasized that first-quarter sales were ‘broadly consistent’ with pre-pandemic levels.
It said that February and March sales fell partly owing to comparisons with last year, when Covid limits were eased.
However, investors were not persuaded, as Quiz shares fell 20% to 12,40p in late trading. They have decreased by approximately 17% over the past year.
After Covid limitations were removed last spring, sales growth slowed as inflation affected customer confidence, the business reported.
‘As a consequence of these external headwinds and partially reflecting the strong prior year comparatives. Like-for-like revenues in February and March 2023 were lower than in the prior year,’ the company informed investors.
‘However, despite challenging trading conditions in recent months, group revenues in the final three months of FY23 were largely consistent with those generated in the comparable period of FY2019, which was the final period unaffected by coronavirus-related factors.’
The company issued a trading update before the release of its full-year results, which are anticipated to reveal a 17 percent increase in revenue to £91,7 million and a profit of £2 million, up from £800,000 the previous year.
Tarak Ramzan, the company’s chief executive officer, stated that the “good” performance was accomplished “despite the challenging market environment in recent months” as “a strong testament to our flexible model and differentiated brand.”
He added, “Although the external trading environment is expected to remain challenging shortly. We remain extremely optimistic about the Group’s long-term prospects.”
Last week, rival fashion retailer Superdry also attributed disappointing sales to “factors outside the company’s control.” Including the cost-of-living crisis and poor weather that impacted demand for its spring-summer collections.
