Sosandar PLC on Wednesday said it expects a rise in annual revenue and its first-ever profit, though its bottom-line will fall short of market expectations amid investment plans.

The Wilmslow, England-based women’s clothing retailer said it expects revenue of £42.5 million for the year ended March 31, up 44% from £29.5 million the year earlier.

The company noted that the number of orders rose by 22% to 620,977 from 508,473, while the amount of active customers climbed 19% to 264,832 from 222,253.

Sosandar said that financial 2023 was its first full year of profit. It expects pretax profit of at least £1.6 million, swinging from a loss of £554,000 a year ago.

Pretax profit is to fall short of market consensus of £1.9 million, however. It put this down to investment plans.

‘In order to capitalise on the strong trading in FY23 and prepare for further momentum in FY24, the company brought forward investment in some growth initiatives in the latter part of Q4 FY23 that were originally planned for FY24. These investments are centred around operations, technology platforms and international strategy, which will help support and develop the company’s future growth initiatives. FY23 PBT is, as a result, marginally below market consensus,’ Sosandar said.

Looking ahead, the firm expects to profit from its planned launch with J Sainsbury PLC in the quarter that just ended. In January, Sosandar announced it is selling a collection of its products via Sainsbury’s.

The contract started online only before expanding to select Sainsbury’s physical stores later in the year. The partnership marks Sosandar’s first in-store presence, which it had said allowed it to become a ‘truly omnichannel retailer’.

It has also begun development of a mobile app. It is expected to launch in the second quarter of the new financial year.

Sosandar shares were 3.3% lower at 22.96 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

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