Aspinal of London upbeat on online strategy despite Covid sales hit

Aspinal of London has revealed it took a big hit to its sales during the pandemic, but remains upbeat on its transformation into an online-first retailer.

In the year to March 31, the British fashion retailer reported a 31 percent drop in sales to 23.1 million pounds and its adjusted EBITDA narrowed to 3.4 million pounds from 5.8 million pounds, according to a trading update seen by Retail Gazette.

On a brighter note, the company swung to a net profit of 4.3 million pounds from a loss of 10.1 million pounds in the previous year, and its gross margin increased by 8 percent.

The company was hit hard by the pandemic, which caused it to close its physical stores amid multiple lockdowns.

The retailer then made the decision in October 2020 to permanently close 10 of its stores as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

That meant all its retail stores and concessions were closed except its London flagships in Regent Street, Royal Exchange, Harrods and Selfridges. The company also opened its first franchise store in the Chinese market during the period.

It said the decision to close stores came after being “profoundly impacted” by the pandemic, and as part of a broader strategy to reposition itself as a mostly online retailer.

Despite the drop in overall sales, the company remained upbeat about its online operations, with double-digit growth in e-commerce sales during the period.

Aspinal of London said 85 percent of its business is now online.

The company said that “the transformation of Aspinal into a profitable, cash-generative online business has now been successfully completed”, and said it expects “further substantial EBITDA growth for FY 2022 based on actuals to date”.

For the first six months of the new financial year, the company’s direct retail sales were 29 percent higher than the previous year on a like-for-like basis.