MySale beats market expectations on full-year earnings

Australia and New Zealand-focussed online retailer MySale reported a “materially-improved” underlying profitability and strong operational performance in its final results on Tuesday, as revenue slipped to AUD 117.9m (£63m) from AUD 131m.

The AIM-traded firm said group underlying EBITDA came in at AUD 4.2m for the year ended 30 June, ahead of market expectations, and swinging from its AUD 2.7m loss in the 2020 financial year.

Own stock channel revenue totalled AUD 25m, underpinned by core revenue of AUD 21.6m, as MySale said its gross profit increased to AUD 46.4m from AUD 43.9m.

During the year the company raised AUD 9.3m from entities associated with both founders, as well as the former chief executive of its Catch operation.

Its cash position at year-end was AUD 9.2m, up from AUD 6.7m a year earlier, with the company being free of debt.

Looking ahead, MySale reported ongoing positive trading momentum in the first quarter of the new financial year, with its gross merchandise value over 50% ahead the same period of 2021.

The board said it was focusing on driving its marketplace offering, which was expected to increase “significantly” in the financial year, to become the group's largest channel.

That, it said, would be underpinned by “tactically scaling” the higher-margin own-stock channel.

The group's gross profit was also approximately 15% ahead of the first quarter year-on-year.

“'It has been a year of significant strategic and operational progress, with a return to underlying profitability, leaving us well positioned for strong growth in the 2022 financial year and beyond,” said executive chairman Carl Jackson.

“The successful capital raise, backed by experienced industry figures, has allowed us to accelerate the transformation of the business, which is now focused on scaling our unique, off-price marketplace platform by being the partner of choice to more brands who want access to over three million buyers.

“For our international partners, the platform also provides a counter seasonal solution for their excess fashion inventory.”

Jackson said there were a number of opportunities ahead, both in the company’s core apparel category, but also across beauty and homewares.

“The appointment of Kalman Polak as chief executive officer and a strengthened leadership team will help accelerate our progress and we are already seeing momentum continuing into the current financial year, with gross merchandise value in the first quarter over 50% ahead of the prior-year period.

“Underpinned by a right-sized cost base and a positive cash position, we look forward with confidence.”

At 1210 BST, shares in MySale Group were up 6.79% at 8.28p.