MySale says more product available due to store closures, March sales improve

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 1, 2020

Half-year results for London-listed e-tailer MySale Group on Wednesday looked weak. But the company also said it’s been boosted by the current market volatility with more product available to it and more brands wanting to sell via its marketplace.

As the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated, the firm said it “has benefited from additional inventory in the market as retailers and brands have been unable to sell it through their mainly offline existing channels. As a result, revenues in the last two weeks of March have been stronger and we have experienced an increase in the number of brands wanting to sell on our marketplace platform”.

Looking at the last six months, the company said that in the period to December 31, group revenue fell 43% to A$72 million and gross profit fell 50% to A$24.4 million. The gross margin dropped to 34% from 38%, but the underlying  EBITDA loss was cut by 38% to A$3.1 million, having been A$5 million a year earlier.

That last figure was good news, but the company clearly has big challenges ahead, despite the recent benefits it’s been seeing from the changing situation the world finds itself in.

As well as highlighting the positives, CEO Carl Jackson said the second half so far has been impacted by poor consumer confidence as a result of the Australian bushfire crisis and “early challenges with the supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic”. 

Due to current uncertainties, he’s not making any predictions about MySale’s performance in the financial year that ends on June 30 until the impact of Covid-19 becomes clearer. He’s also taking a "prudent approach" and is conserving as much cash as he can.

Jackson added: “The group has undergone a period of significant change with an intense focus on reducing costs and inventory levels. We are still in the first year of pivoting the business to an Inventory Light Marketplace Platform and executing against our 'ANZ First' strategy but continue to make progress in order to improve cash flow and strengthen the balance sheet.”