Superdry shares fell by more than half today on the back of last week’s news which saw founder Julian Dunkerton (pictured) fail in his takeover bid
Superdry shares fell by more than half on Tuesday after founder Julian Dunkerton abandoned his takeover bid last week.
Dunkerton, who owns a 26 per cent stake, walked away from takeover talks last Thursday after market close amid doubts any bid would be capable of financing Superdry’s turnaround plans.
Superdry shares fell by 51.04 per cent to 14.10p in Tuesday morning trading.
The 59-year-old, who set up the company in 1985, approached the board in February over a possible offer for shares he did not already own.
However he ended his two-month pursuit of the Cheltenham-based retailer after both he and the board concluded that any offer made was unlikely to be enough to help the firm deliver its turnaround and cost-saving plans.
Superdry, known for the Japanese graphics on its t-shirts and hoodies, sounded the alarm over its finances in January when its first-half results showed a sharp drop in sales as customers cut back on online spending.
Last month, the firm said it was in talks with turnaround specialist Hilco over an increase to its lending facilities of ‘approximately’ £10million.
It said that this was for ‘necessary additional liquidity headroom to help facilitate the implementation of its ongoing turnaround plan and cost reduction programme’.
Superdry was also seeking an additional £10million to ‘assist with seasonal working capital peaks’ and a six-month extension to the maturity date of its existing facilities with Hilco through to February next year.
The retailer, which employs about 3,350 people across the world and runs 216 shops alongside franchised stores, has endured challenging trading in recent years. It has posted just one year of profitability since 2020.
The group posted an adjusted pre-tax loss of £25.3million for the six months to 28 October, up from a £13.6million loss last year.
Revenues plummeted 23.5 per cent to £219.8million over the period.
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