Telegraph - Questor09 Sep 2020 08:22
"These guys destroyed a quarter of a billion pounds of value for me and I’m determined to build it back up.”
This is what, according to one fund manager, the founder of Superdry is in effect saying about his attempt to restore the firm’s fortunes after his predecessors made, again in the fund manager’s words, a “dog’s breakfast of it”.
Liad Meidar of Gatemore Capital Management, whose Special Opportunities fund has a stake in the fashion brand, said Julian Dunkerton, its founder, had seen the value of his Superdry shares fall by about £250m when its market value plummeted from £1.3bn to £90m under the previous management.
This obviously gives Mr Dunkerton plenty of motivation to succeed – and it shows. “He fought to get back control of the company in April last year. There was lot of drama,” said Mr Meidar. “We think he is doing a lot of the right things to get the business back on track.
“He’s just as energetic and committed as before. He is a really incredible entrepreneur. He is renegotiating store leases, so fixed costs are falling significantly, and he is revamping the product line, breathing new life into it. And I think he’ll be around for a while.”
He added that there was “nothing wrong with the business” now. “Going into the pandemic there were a lot of factors that put it in a unique position,” Mr Meidar added. “One was it had net cash, a position that it managed to maintain into lockdown. It had had too much inventory but stopped purchasing and managed to clear it, while the warehouses for online shopping were kept running.”
He said Superdry’s “reasonably priced casual wear” put it “in the right place” as far as the pandemic was concerned. “This brand can do really well in this environment,” he added. “It was already in turnaround mode going into Covid – it was on the front foot.
“Now it is able to go further and get its cost structure right. For example, some shops could be closed but the firm could also open some new ones. Some landlords are offering variable-cost deals that in effect mean there is no risk for the tenant.”
He said Superdry charged “premium prices” but still offered good value for money. “You feel that you are getting a good deal, a good balance of quality and price.” The result is gross margins of about 64pc. Returns on capital tend to be in double digits, although they are depressed this year. “They could go into the high teens,” Mr Meidar said.
He said profit numbers were currently “all muddled” because of changes to accounting standards but the less volatile and arguably more important free cash flow figure should be more than £60m by 2022.
“A business with a market value of £110m is on course to produce £60m in cash in one year,” he said. “That reflects the bombed-out share price, which has arisen partly because some investors ‘short sold’ retailers.
“This is the type of opportunity we want. There are very few risk-reward stories like this out there.”
