Torrid swings to FY profit as Q4 losses narrow, appoints CCO

Plus-size womenswear brand Torrid returned to a profit in the year ended January 28 as its fourth-quarter losses narrowed.

The US brand, which specialises in fashion for sizes 10 to 30, ended the year with a net income of 50.2 million dollars compared to a loss of 29.9 million dollars a year earlier.

Adjusted EBITDA for the full year fell to 152.3 million dollars from 245.9 million dollars a year earlier.

That came as net sales dropped slightly by 0.7 percent to 1.29 billion dollars.

“This past year, we focused on improving the health of our organization and made operational changes that have set us up to drive long-term growth in the business,” chief executive Lisa Harper said in a statement.

“I’m proud of our team’s accomplishments and we ended the year with net sales at the upper end of our expectations, a beat to our adjusted EBITDA guidance, and improved inventory levels going into next year,” she said.

Q4 losses narrow despite revenue drop

In the final quarter of the year, the company narrowed its net loss to 3.8 million dollars from 22.8 million dollars a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA dropped to 16.4 million dollars from 28.4 million dollars.

Net sales for the year dropped 5.5 percent to 301.2 million dollars.

Looking ahead, the company now expects fiscal 2023 net sales of between 1.27 billion and 1.32 billion dollars, and adjusted EBITDA of between 140 million dollars and 152 million dollars.

Harper said: “We are pleased with the quality of our inventory and product moving forward, and we are starting to see our gross margin rates stabilize.”

Torrid also announced Thursday the appointment of Mark Mizicko as new chief commercial officer (CCO), where he will be responsible for merchandising, merchandise planning and allocation, marketing, and e-commerce.

It marks a return to the brand for Mizicko, who served as chief operating officer before leaving the business in 2016. He also previously served in senior planning roles at fashion companies including Belk, Hot Topic, and Gap.