New Zealand-founded eco-friendly lifestyle apparel brand Allbirds has just closed its best quarter yet, but the Nasdaq-listed company remains far from profitable.
The company has reported a 27-per-cent increase in sales for the full 2021 year to US$277.5 million, despite the impact of Covid-19 on retail trading. Fourth-quarter revenue grew 23 per cent year on year and 43 per cent against 2019.
Gross profit for the year was up 30 per cent to $146.7 million as the company’s gross margin improved 145 basis points to 52.9 per cent. However, despite a $400,000 fourth-quarter profit, Allbirds’ reported a full-year adjusted EBITDA loss of $11.7 million.
“Our results reflect strong global demand for the Allbirds brand and best-in-class execution by our teams during a period of ongoing macro challenges,” said co-founder and co-CEO Joey Zwillinger who suggested the final quarter performance was an indication of trading to come.
“In the quarter, we saw strength across retail and digital channels, as well as geographies. The quarter culminated with a remarkable holiday season, which included the two biggest sales days in company history, highlighting the power of our omnichannel model,” he said.
Allbirds opened 13 new stores last year, taking its global network to 35, which helped it boost retail channel sales by 112 per cent.
Zwillinger said the company considers its 2022 product roadmap as its strongest yet.
“Importantly, we believe that our innovation engine, continued retail store expansion, and increasing international presence will continue to drive an accelerating topline growth rate in 2022, helping us march down the path towards durable growth and our medium-term profitability targets while furthering our goal of combating climate change,” he said in a statement.
Despite its loss, Allbirds ended the year with $289 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand, including $231.6 million from its IPO.
For the new 2022 fiscal year, Allbirds is projecting net revenue of between $355 million and $365 million, which would equate to growth of between 28 and 32 per cent. It projects a loss of between $9 million and $13 million.
