Homeware retailer Temple & Webster (T&W) is continuing to experience instability with the “historic lows” in consumer confidence now cited as a cause for a strategic pivot.

Not long after announcing the upcoming appointment of Susie Sugden as its new CEO and the stepping down of founder Mark Coulter, T&W said it will be optimising its margins and focusing on rebalancing its short-term profit and growth.

Coulter had previously expressed aims to grow T&W’s market share “as fast as we can”.

The ASX-listed retailer now forecasts its full-year revenue to fall between $665 million and $675 million, an 11 to 12 per cent increase year-on-year. T&W said this will create a “significant uplift” in profitability.

“We remain firmly focused on growing our market share and reaching $1 billion in revenue by FY28, and becoming a larger, more profitable business,” Coulter added. 

“However, right now, given the uncertainty in the Australian economy, we have prudently chosen to rebalance between profit and growth in our core business.” 

Coulter said a new promotional pattern has been introduced, along with a new pricing structure. “These initiatives have led to a new profit record for the month of April by quite a long way, and a clear path to a doubling of EBITDA in FY27 to [around] $40 million, despite the economic headwinds,“ Coulter said.

“This shows the incredible agility of our business model and the speed of which we can adjust our levers in response to external changes. A more profitable core business allows us to keep investing in our consumer offering and platform – including a larger and more diversified private label and exclusive business, better and faster delivery options, and personalisation across all our customer touchpoints.“

On Tuesday, May 12, T&W recorded its lowest share price since June 2023, a share price which has fallen by 63 per cent on the ASX in the past 12 months.