Shares in bombed-out fashion retailer Quiz (QUIZ:AIM) cheapened 15% to 5.9p after the occasion wear and dressy casual wear specialist lurched into the red and warned sales for the year to March 2024 will be 6% to 8% below the £86.4 million the market was looking for.

Sales for the two months to 30 November including Black Friday fell short of management’s expectations and given the fashion group’s recent poor performance, chairman Peter Cowgill, the former boss of JD Sports (JD.), will lead a thorough review of the company’s strategic options ‘to maximise shareholder value’.

Options on the table include putting the company up for sale, and Quiz expects to report the findings from the review in the first quarter of 2024.

BLACK FRIDAY SALES FALL SHORT

Quiz’s results for the six months to 30 September revealed a 14% drop in sales to £42.3 million as cost-of-living and inflationary pressures hit consumer confidence and the struggling fashion seller lapped ‘challenging’ prior year comparatives.

With sales down double digits in all channels - UK stores and concessions, online and international - Quiz lurched from pre-tax profits of £1.8 million to a pre-tax loss of £1.5 million.

Compounding the disappointment was the news sales for the two months to 30 November 2023 including the Black Friday period came in at £14.2 million.

That was 11.2% below the £16 million generated a year earlier and behind management’s expectations.

Whereas UK like-for-like store sales were ‘marginally’ down year-on-year over the Black Friday period, Quiz suffered a sharper drop in online revenues through its own website, which represented ‘a disappointing shortfall across this important trading period’ according to the Glasgow-based company.

RAMZAN REMAINS CONFIDENT

Quiz stressed it is now focused on conserving cash and returning to profitability through reviewing and reducing costs where possible.

Founder and CEO Tarak Ramzan commented: ‘This has been a challenging period for many retailers, and we have not been immune to the widely publicised macro headwinds impacting consumer demand. Notwithstanding the ongoing pressure on consumers, we have continued to focus on taking the right decisions for our long-term future, including prioritising protecting full-price sales and carefully managing our store portfolio.’

Ramzan remains confident that Quiz remains ‘a strong, distinctive brand known for providing glamorous looks at good value prices. However, given the prolonged period of challenging trading we believe it is prudent to examine a range of options to maximise shareholder value.’

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