Showroomprivé issues new warning about 2017 results

On Monday, Showroomprivé issued another warning about its 2017 results, after a disappointing performance in the fourth quarter, the period in which the French fashion e-tailer and inventory clearance specialist generates a sizeable part of its revenue and profits.

The group announced that its annual revenue and EBITDA - excluding the Saldi Privati subsidiary - will fall below the expected figures of €690 million and €25 million respectively, without providing any further details.

"Until now, our fourth quarter performance (...) has fallen short of expectations, notably due to a lower-than-planned commercial momentum in some product categories, and to a tougher competitive environment, especially around Black Friday," wrote the group in a press release.

Black Friday, a typically American promotional event which this year featured heavily in Europe and France too, translated into massive discount sales for retailers and distributors in all sectors.

The announcement led to a plunge in Showroomprivé's share price on the stock exchange. The price had fallen by 22% at 4 pm on Monday, to about €7, and lost 66% from the start of the year, for a stock market capitalisation of €247 million.

Showroomprivé stated that it will put forward a new action plan at the time of the presentation of its final 2017 results next March.

In October, the group had already issued a first warning about its results, revising downward the guidance for all its 2017 targets, to take into account the impact of its investments and logistics costs.
In July, Showroomprivé struck a strategic partnership deal with furniture and homeware retailer Conforama, a subsidiary of South African group Steinhoff, currently in turmoil after the opening of an enquiry into alleged accounting irregularities.
At the time, Steinhoff became Showroomprivé's main shareholder, with a 16.9% stake in the group.

Showroomprivé indicated that, after a year in which the group's main focus was its strategic transformation - with the acquisition of Beautéprivée, the partnership with Conforama and the merger with Saldi Privati - its co-founders David Dayan and Thierry Petit will "concentrate on running the business and executing the medium-term strategic road map."

Pascale Denis