Unbound Group PLC Trading and Partnership Strategy Update (1745L)
12 May 2022 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMUBG
RNS Number : 1745L
Unbound Group PLC
12 May 2022
Unbound Group plc
Update on Hotter Shoes trading and progress on Unbound
partnership strategy
12 May 2022
Unbound Group plc (the "Company" or the "Group"), which was
admitted to trading on AIM in February 2022, is pleased to provide
a trading update for Q1 of the financial year ending 4 February
2023.
The Group's aim is to capitalise on the digital strengths,
customer loyalty and powerful database of its core trading
business, Hotter Shoes, to create a curated online multi-brand
retail platform serving the 55+ demographic. The Group's growing
(currently 4.6m) customer database represents some 30% of the UK
55+ female population.
Initially, the Group plans to launch its partner brand offering
within footwear & apparel categories followed, in due course by
a wellness offer. The Group is pleased with the high level of
interest shown in the Unbound platform and, since it launched its
partnership strategy in January, has secured a number of partner
brands to join. The names of new partners signed to date will be
announced in due course, ahead of the planned introduction of the
platform, at the end of July 2022. There will be a full autumn
winter launch of the platform from early September 2022.
Hotter Trading Update
Hotter has performed strongly in Q1, delivering a double-digit
increase in revenue against the comparator period last year as well
as an improvement in gross margin. The Company is seeing the
benefits of its omnichannel strategy with the performance of the
retail estate being especially pleasing. The active customer base
continues to grow, with Unbound's email database exceeding 1m.
Hotter has achieved this strong performance despite the
macroeconomic backdrop of rising inflation, supply chain challenges
and the impact of the Russia / Ukraine conflict. The Board believes
that the outlook for the external environment continues to look
challenging for the remainder of this financial year, the
performance highlights the strength of the Hotter brand, the
resilience of the business model and the ability to adapt at pace.
The Group aims to continue mitigating some of these risks while
continuing to grow.
Costs are being tightly managed with marketing, variable and
fixed cost efficiencies being delivered as revenue continues to
grow.
The Company believes its ability to manage its cost base, its
right-sized omnichannel model and in-house manufacturing give it
the capability to adapt to challenging market conditions.
The Group's full year outlook remains unchanged.
Ian Watson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"I am delighted that the progress we have made in transforming
Hotter continues to be translated into improved financial
performance. The development of the Unbound Group platform is
gathering pace and we have secured a number of exciting launch
partner brands within footwear and apparel. We are engaged in
positive discussions with a number of additional potential partners
that will further develop our footwear and apparel offer and launch
our wellness proposition, to be followed by other target categories
in phased implementations. We continue to be guided by our unique
insight of our consumer base as we curate a range of products
specifically for our target audience."
END S
ENQUIRIES
Unbound Group plc
Dan Lampard
020 3874 8300
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad and Joint Corporate
Broker)
Ash Burman, Nick Adams, Stewart Wallace, Francis North
020 7710 7600
HSBC Bank plc (Joint Corporate Broker)
Simon Alexander, Sam McLennan, Alex Moraru
020 7991 8888
Vico Partners
Sofia Newitt
020 3957 5045
NOTES TO EDITORS
Unbound Group plc
Unbound Group plc is the parent company for a group selling a
range of brands focused on the 55+ demographic. Unbound Group will
build on the solid foundation of Hotter Shoes, its current main
business, to grow value through its curated, multi-brand retail
platform supporting the active lifestyles of the 55+ demographic
with a range of products and services. Unbound's expanded offering
beyond footwear will feature a broad range of active lifestyle
products and services, with third-party complementary brands
featuring alongside new Unbound Group brands, as well as
Hotter.
Hotter Shoes
Hotter Shoes, an Unbound Group plc company, is one of the UK's
leading specialist footwear brands, selling over 1.4 million pairs
of shoes per year. Hotter's footwear has an uncompromising focus on
'customised comfort' and perfect fit through the use of its
differentiating technology, including its e-commerce platform, 3D
foot scanner and augmented reality app which enables the consumer
to try products virtually from home. Hotter has been transformed
from a retail to a digitally led, omni-channel business over the
past 3 years, selling its footwear to over 4 million customers via
online, its direct mail order channel and its targeted 17
Technology Centres and 7 garden centre concessions in the UK. With
its clearly defined, large and growing target demographic, Hotter
now reaches 29% of the female population in the UK over the age of
55. Digital partnerships have recently been established with
several online retailers including Next, John Lewis, The Very Group
and M&S.
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