Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) has had a strong start to the year, with the youth fashion retailer's group sales up more than 10% and the company on track to roll out up to 17 new stores.
The company, which held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, said in an update on its first few months of trade that group sales were 13.7% higher for the first 17 weeks of the year compared with the same period last year.
Breaking that down into the company's three brands, Universal Store's total sales were up 11.4%, and 7.7% on a like-for-like basis, Perfect Stranger was up 40.5%, or 13.9% like-for-like, and Cheap Thrills Cycle was 14.1% higher and 2.3% like-for-like.
New store rollouts continue
The company said it remained on track to open between 11 and 17 new stores in the current financial year, after opening 12 new stores in FY25.
So far this financial year, the company has opened four new stores, with four additional stores to open before Christmas.
Chief Executive Officer Alice Barbery said it was a strong start to the year.
She said in a statement to the ASX:
Gross margins remain robust with our disciplined pricing strategy, expansion of the Perfect Stranger retail format and leading private and third-party brands. We continue to make considered investments in our team and system capability to support our growth aspirations. The group is well positioned heading into the peak trading period with healthy inventory and a customer centric mindset.
The company said there was increasing brand awareness for Perfect Stranger stores, and "little to no discernible cannibalisation of nearby Universal Store stores''.
The Cheap Thrills Cycle strategy was also progressing well, the company said, "with brand positioning better aligned to customer expectations, improving product range curation and operational changes to increase our 'speed to market'".
The company said:
These changes have delivered double digit like for like sales growth from Thrills stores in the year-to-date period, partially offset by a decrease in online sales. The online sales decrease was primarily a result of reduced discounting compared to the previous corresponding period.
Universal Store shares were 2.5% lower in trade on Thursday to $9.16 per share.
RBC Capital Markets said the trading update was "broadly consistent" with consensus estimates. The Broker has an $8.90 price target on Universal Store shares.
