Cettire forced to disclose more financial information after ASX queries

Cettire’s update on Monday attracted the attention of the exchange which sought financial clarifications and now, almost five days later and near the close of market, it has complied.

Cettire, headed by Dean Mintz, has been forced to answer a string of ASX questions.

Under-pressure luxury retail group Cettire has addressed a series of questions from the ASX about its market disclosure procedures, capping off a tumultuous week.

Cettire, led by reclusive founder and chief executive Dean Mintz, late on Friday was made to reveal further financial information left out of a market update on Monday, that sparked a 50 per cent share price plunge on the day.

The ASX sent queries to Cettire after its Monday update, including telling the company that “...vague or imprecise terms such as ‘single digit’ and ‘double digit’ (figures)” that could potentially have a material effect on its share price should not be used.

Cettire had said its fourth quarter had been hit by tough trading conditions in the global luxury market, which meant it would achieve only a small profit at best in the three months to the end of June.

It had revealed its adjusted EBITDA for the full 2024 financial year was likely to be in the $32m to $35m range, two months after flagging EBITDA for the first nine months of the financial year was already $32m.

In Monday’s update Cettire had only said its marketing to sales ratio was “low double digits per cent”. On Friday, it made a further clarification in response to the ASX’s letter.

“Cettire’s current estimate of marketing to sales revenue for FY24 is a range of 10.0 (per cent) to 10.5 (per cent),” the company said.

Cettire’s financial results for the half year to December 31, released in February, showed it had about $354m in sales revenue and about $34m in advertising and marketing expenses, resulting in a 9.65 per cent marketing-to-sales revenue ratio.

The ASX also queried why Cettire had not disclosed what its “delivered margin” would be, other than saying it would be “greater than 20 per cent” for the fourth quarter, and also the third quarter.

“We advise that Cettire’s current estimate of delivered margin for FY24 will be in the range of 20.4 per cent to 21.1 per cent,” Cettire said in response.

In February, Cettire had disclosed its delivered margin for the first six months of the financial year was 23.2 per cent.

The ASX asked Cettire why its most recent market update on Monday had not disclosed more precise information regarding other financial measures such as gross revenue, average order value, active customers and gross revenue from repeat customers – and queried whether Cettire considered these measures to be material.

In response, Cettire pointed out previous quarterly updates had been released after the end of the relevant three month period.

“The FY24 Update, on the other hand, was issued before the end of Q4, when actual Q4 data was not (and is not) yet available,” Cettire said.

Cettire said it had released information on Monday, earlier than the end of the quarter, because it “had become apparent that Adjusted EBITDA for FY24 was likely to come in below consensus broker estimates.”