a.k.a. Brands Q1 sales driven by US market

Direct-to-consumer fashion platform a.k.a. Brands saw its net sales more than double in the first quarter of the year.

In the three months to March 31, it made net sales of 148.3 million dollars, representing a year-over-year increase of 115.6 percent, or 23.6 percent pro-forma adjusting for the acquisition of Australian streetwear retailer Culture Kings, which contributed 48.9 million dollars to Q1 net sales.

The San Francisco-based company made a net income of 1.5 million dollars, which was flat compared to the net income attributable to a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp it made a year earlier.

It reported adjusted EBITDA of 10.7 million dollars, up from 8.3 million dollars a year earlier.

“I am very proud of our first quarter performance, which exceeded our expectations,” a.k.a. Brands CEO Jill Ramsey told investors.

She hailed a particularly strong performance in the US, which was “by far the fastest growing region” with sales up 54 percent year-over-year.

Ramsey said the strong growth in net sales reflected “the power and agility of our next-gen business model as well as the strength of our diverse portfolio of brands”.

a.k.a. Brands, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last September, owns a portfolio of brands and retailers including Princess Polly, Petal & Pup, Rebdolls, Culture Kings, and Mnml.

For the full fiscal year 2022, the company expects net sales of between 785 million dollars and 805 million dollars, and adjusted EBITDA of between 90 million dollars and 100 million dollars.