City Chic plus-sizes its profits

City Chic Collective – which sells a range of plus-size brands including Avenue and Evans – says it expects to show sales growth of almost 50 per cent for the latest half.

City Chic Collective says the uncertainty of the pandemic did not affect its trade in the first half of the financial year. Above, a store at Toowoomba in Queensland.

Fashion retailer City Chic Collective – which sells a range of plus-size brands including Avenue and Evans – says the uncertainty of the pandemic has not affected its trade in the first half of the financial year and it expects sales growth of almost 50 per cent for the period.

But the company – formerly Specialty Fashion Group – said it faced pressure on its supply chain, including freight shortages and delivery delays.

City Chic said revenues in the six months to December 26 were $178.3m compared to the $119m for that period last year.

Sales revenues in the Americas rose 62 per cent to $77.2m, while sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa increased from just $500,000 to $20.3m.

“While we acknowledge the environment remains uncertain, the performance of the business to date demonstrates the team’s ability to navigate volatile market conditions,” Phil Ryan, the company’s chief executive, told the ASX.

“The particularly strong performance in the US demonstrates our potential to capture and grow our share of international markets.”

Shares rose 11.6 per cent – or 52c – to close at $4.99.

City Chic operates 92 stores in Australia and New Zealand and has wholesale partnerships in the US and Europe. The company also acquired e-commerce retailer Avenue in 2019 and British brand Evans in December 2020.

City Chic said website traffic, a major driver of revenue, increased 22 per cent in the first half of the year. Equities analysts at Citi, however, earlier this month warned momentum “continues to slow”.