By Richard Wood Aug 25, 2020
Fashion retailer Mosaic Brands will close up to 500 stores across the country after it recorded a $212 million loss due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company behind clothing brands Rivers, Millers, Katies and Noni B had been “utterly derailed” by the coronavirus, Mosaic Brands CEO Scott Evans told shareholders at the announcement of its full-year results.
Mosaic Brands said the leases on nearly 80 per cent of its 1333 stores will expire over the next two years and it plans to close 300 to 500 of those over that time frame.
The company, which has 6000 employees, reported a statutory loss before tax of $212.1 million, a plunge of 1900 per cent on the prior year’s statutory profit of $11 million.
Revenue fell 16.5 per cent to $736.7 million. The fashion retailer did not declare a dividend.
Online sales grew just 14.7 per cent during the year, far lower than other retailers.
As well as the coronavirus, Mosaic Brands said the devastating bushfires across Christmas and New Year periods badly hit sales.
The move to permanently shut more than a third of its store network comes after 129 of its stores in Westfield shopping centres were closed by landlord Scentre Group.
“The retail rental market in Australia is not paused because of the pandemic – it is fundamentally changed for the future. Some though not all landlords accept that reality, so while exact locations and numbers are to be determined, the group anticipates potentially 300 to 500 store closures over the coming 12 to 24 months,” Mr Evans said.
“Shuttered stores work for no one so we aim to minimise closures, but not on uncommercial terms.”
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