Scots-headquartered fast fashion firm Quiz sees festive tills ring, with Dec sales up 11 per cent

Glasgow-headquartered clothing retailer Quiz believes it will perform “at least” in line with its expectations in the current financial year after seeing sales grow by more than a tenth in December as consumers snapped up outfits for festive celebrations.

The “fast fashion” specialist, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market, said strong customer demand for its glam occasionwear in the first Christmas period in three years not affected by Covid-19 restrictions helped total group sales last month reach £9.8 million, marking an 11 per cent year-on-year leap. Revenues in its UK stores and concessions jumped by about a fifth to £6.2m, with about the same percentage increase internationally to amount to £1.8m. Online sales were down 14 per cent, also coming in at £1.8m, but the company said this dovetailed with its expectations.

Quiz also said in the Christmas trading update that overall increased festive demand helped offset slightly weaker-than-anticipated revenues in the preceding weeks, and contributed to a 3 per cent increase in revenues in the quarter ending December 31, in line with the board’s expectations. It added that as a result, its revenues in the nine months to the end of 2022 totalled £75.2m, a year-on-year jump of nearly a quarter, while its total liquidity headroom was £12.7m as of January 16 this year.

The firm also said its board “remains confident” that it will deliver profits for the full year to March 31 “at least in line with its expectations, and is well positioned to achieve further profitable revenue growth in the longer term”. It had in December reported interim pre-tax profits of £1.8m, up from £1.3m in losses 12 months previously. The latest update comes after a tumultuous period for Quiz in 2020 when it closed several branches across the UK – including Kirkcaldy.

'We are confident that Quiz is well positioned to deliver a performance at least in line with the board’s expectations in the current financial year,' the firm has stated in the trading update. Picture: contributed.

Quiz boss Tarak Ramzan, said: “We are pleased with the strong consumer demand for Quiz and the group’s sales performance during the important Christmas trading period. This again reflected the benefits of our omnichannel model as well as the Quiz brand’s outstanding reputation for delivering glamorous occasionwear as great value.

Confident

“Whilst the wider trading environment is expected to be challenging over the coming months, we are confident that Quiz is well positioned to deliver a performance at least in line with the board’s expectations in the current financial year.”

Panmure Gordon analysts Georgia Pettman and Tony Shiret said Quiz’s 11 per cent year-on-year sales growth in December comes after a 3 per cent increase in the previous two months. They added: “We will await further evidence of how UK clothing markets will develop into the spring/summer season before revisiting our numbers. But it looks to us as though Quiz has put itself in a good place.”

Meanwhile, pet retailer Jollyes has for the second year in a row reported record Christmas sales, with revenues in the four weeks to December 31 up 31 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. It attributed the growth in part to new stores opening in 2022, including Edinburgh’s Hermiston Gait, as well as Glenrothes and Stirling, while its new outlets lined up for 2023 include Port Glasgow near Greenock at the end of February. The firm added that it remains on track to reach goals including £100m turnover this year.