Superdry reveals radical restructuring plan

Under-pressure Superdry has released its restructuring plan for which it hopes to get shareholder support next month to stave off administration and — reportedly — a potential sale.

The plan comes along with a targeted equity raise of up to £10 million and a delisting from the London Stock Exchange. 

The company said the measures “are needed to avoid the company entering into insolvency, allow Superdry to return to a more stable footing, accelerate its turnaround plan and drive it towards a viable and sustainable future”.

All of the measures are linked and require approval as a whole when the vote happens in mid-June. If approval isn’t forthcoming, the business “will be unable to fund its short-term working capital needs” and “will need to enter into administration or an equivalent insolvency process immediately”.

There will be UK job losses and the company is seeking to reduce its rental costs with rent cuts its goal for 39 of its 94 UK stores. In fact, it wants zero rents for 14 sites, but landlords could terminate those leases, which would mean those stores would close.

It expects to reduce its “cost-onerous international store footprint” over the next few years too. It will shut around 25-30 European stores and is also talking about disposals to franchisees other third parties.

Also on the cards is a move away from markdowns (something that it has already been putting in place). Plus it’s targeting a new third-party e-commerce platform to replace its existing proprietary system (“which will enable a revitalised and more efficient e-commerce strategy in the UK and internationally”). 

And it’s exploring brand and IP deals in non-core markets. Again, this is something it has already started doing, an example being its deal with Reliance for India.

On a medium-to-long term view, while “recognising that there is a complex pathway in the interim to navigate in order to deliver this, the company is targeting group revenue of between £350 million and £400 million, a gross margin slightly ahead of current levels, and mid to high-single-digit EBITDA margin (on a pre-IFRS 16 basis)”.