Quiz shares fall as it blames cost of living crisis for dip in sales

Fashion retailer Quiz has said that sales in the February and March dipped as customers tightened their belts, sending its shares tumbling. 

The group also warned that pressures on consumer spending were set to continue and may impact demand for its products, ‘reducing visibility’ for the year ahead.

Quiz sells partywear and dressy casualwear through its 62 stores in the UK, as well as 62 concessions in stores such as New Look.

The London-listed company stressed that sales in the first three months of the year were ‘broadly consistent’ with pre-pandemic levels.

It added that the dip in February and March was partly to blame on strong comparatives with last year, when the relaxation of Covid restrictions boosted sales.

However, investors were not convinced, with Quiz shares tumbling 20 per cent to 12.30p in early trade. They have fallen by around 17 per cent over the last year.

The company said that sales growth seen last spring after Covid restrictions were relaxed had moderated as inflation started to impact consumer confidence. 

‘As a result of these external headwinds and partially reflecting the strong prior year comparatives, like-for-like revenues in February and March 2023 were lower than the previous year,’ it told investors.

‘However, despite the challenging trading conditions in recent months, group revenues in the final three months of FY23 were broadly consistent with those generated in the comparable period in FY2019, that being the last period unaffected by coronavirus related factors.’

The company published the trading update ahead of its results for the full-year to the end of March, which are expected to show a 17 per cent rise in revenues to £91.7million and profit of £2million, up from £800,000 the previous year.

Chief executive, Tarak Ramzan, said the ‘good’ performance had been achieved ‘despite the challenging market backdrop in recent months’ in ‘a strong testament to our flexible model and differentiated brand’.

‘Whilst the external trading environment is expected to remain challenging in the near term, we remain highly confident in the Group’s long-term prospects,’ he added.

Last week, fellow fashion retailer Superdry also blamed ‘factors outside the company’s control’ for disappointing sales, including the cost of living crisis and poor weather knocking demand for its spring-summer collections.