LONDON — Mytheresa closed its first year as a public company on a high note, reporting a 36.1 percent uptick in fourth-quarter sales to 162.4 million euros, and a 36.2 percent sales rise for the fiscal full year ending June 30.
Both adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] and net profit were lower in the three-month period due to temporary cost-saving measures that the Munich-based Mytheresa put in place at the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
In the fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was 11.2 million euros, compared with 15.1 million euros in the corresponding period last year, while adjusted net income was 7.6 million euros, compared with 9.4 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2020.
On an adjusted level, full-year profitability was strong: Mytheresa said adjusted EBITDA was 54.9 million euros, compared to 35.4 million euros in the prior-year period, while adjusted net income rose to 32.1 million euros, compared to 19.3 million euros in fiscal 2020.
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For the full year, Mytheresa reported a comprehensive net loss of 32.6 million euros due entirely to initial public offering preparation and transaction costs and a one-off IPO share-based compensation. The company stressed that the costs applied to fiscal 2021 only and were not indicative of the company’s performance.
“This is a profit-making business model, and we see ourselves well positioned for growth and profitability going forward,” said Michael Kliger, the company’s chief executive officer, during a call with analysts on Tuesday.
Kliger led the company through the successful IPO, with Mytheresa listing on the New York Stock Exchange in January. Mytheresa shares closed down 13.6 percent at $26.27 on Tuesday.
Kliger added that Mytheresa’s focus on “curation, content and service” drove the top-line results and beat the company’s own expectations, while the “shift in consumer demand to online luxury,” which had already begun, was significantly accelerated by the pandemic.
“Our extraordinary results were not achieved by the outbreak — or the end of the pandemic — but by a fundamental change in consumer behavior. We clearly believe this trend will continue in the post-pandemic world, probably reverting to the strong market growth rates we had seen before the pandemic started,” Kliger said.
In the fourth quarter, the company also recorded a “record growth of first-time buyers” with 110,000 new customers. During the same period, the company saw a 64 percent spike in “high-spending customers” — those who spend around 15,000 euros annually. Average net sales per top customer also rose in the fourth quarter, the company added.
Mytheresa said that overall, its active customer base grew by 38 percent to 671,000 during the full fiscal year.
In the current year, Mytheresa is expecting top-line growth to slow, although it will remain in the mid-double digits.
For the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, the company said it is expecting gross merchandise value to be in the range of 750 million euros to 770 million euros, representing 22 percent to 25 percent growth.
Net sales are expected to range between 680 million euros and 700 million euros, while gross profit will land between 345 million euros and 355 million euros, representing 21 percent to 24 percent growth.
In the fiscal year just ended, Mytheresa said it saw strong net sales growth across all geographies, with net sales growth in the U.S. up 133.3 percent in the fourth quarter — almost four times the rate of growth across all geographies in the three-month period.
“In the U.S., we’re seeing a very bullish consumer market coming out of the pandemic. We’ve seen extraordinary growth there and a real shift to online luxury,” said Kliger, adding that charity and red carpet event dressing was helping to drive U.S. sales, with “dresses, heels and bags” among the top sellers in the region.
The company believes its exclusive capsule collections and pre-launches with brands including Alexander McQueen, Jacquemus, Roger Vivier, Valentino and Christian Louboutin were big drivers of growth internationally.
Later this year, the company will introduce a new element to the business known as the Curated Platform Model. It will allow Mytheresa to have access to certain brands’ inventory for speedier in-season replenishment.
At launch, the brand foresees some 20 percent of revenue on the site coming from the Curated Platform brands and the figure could rise to 35 percent in the longer term. The remainder of sales will come from the traditional wholesale model.
The company said it developed the Curated Platform Model to integrate operations with major brands for scale, replenishment and capital efficiency. Mytheresa will not own the inventory, but will hold it in the warehouse, ship it to the customer, curate it and market it on the site.
The company said the model is not a concession and is meant to allow Mytheresa to respond better to customer demand throughout the season and to have immediate access to merchandise. The company said its end customers won’t notice any difference “other than even better service.”
It added that the Curated Platform won’t be for every brand and that Mytheresa was eager to offer “different business solutions” to the fashion and luxury labels it stocks.
Kliger added that supply chains were back in action, and had “almost returned” to pre-pandemic operating levels. “The factories in Italy are fully back, and I’m not seeing any negative impact on supply chain so far.”
The company opened its first beauty pop-up in collaboration with the Estée Lauder Cos., and stocked brands including La Mer, Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle and By Kilian.
Mytheresa burnished its ESG credentials, too, partnering with Vestiaire Collective on a takeback scheme for bags, which will be extended to shoes and ready-to-wear later this year. The scheme sees customers send their used luxury goods — regardless of where they were purchased — to Mytheresa in exchange for store vouchers.
As reported, the company also plans to phase out its use of fur by the end of 2022, and no longer sells products made with exotic skins.