Good morning and welcome to the Sosandar Interim Results Presentation. Today we are joined by Julie Lavington and Alison Hall, joint CEOs, and Steve Dilkes, CFO. Questions are encouraged throughout the webinar and can be submitted via the Q & A box situated on the panel on the right hand side of your screen. I will now hand over to Julie to begin the presentation.
Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. Today we're talking about the results for the first half of the financial year from April to September. I'm going to start with a summary of the highlights, then we'll go through the Half One detailed financial statements, the outlook for half two and then we'll move on to talk more generally about the business when we're going to cover product and marketing, our own website, stores and third parties and then we'll take your questions at the end. Let's kick off with the highlights for half one. As we anticipated, we've returned to revenue growth, delivering a 15% increase year on year. Our own website is our top performing channel, increasing by 28% demonstrating the continued strength of our direct to consumer strategy and the deep connection we've built with our loyal customer base.
We've maintained a robust gross margin of 62.2% revenue, reflecting our focus on full price sales with loss before tax in line with expectation. We're also pleased to say that trading resumed with M& S in the latter part of half one and importantly we remain cash generative. We ended the period with the GBP 7.7 million cash balance. This has allowed us to commence buying back our own shares. To date the company has bought 5 million shares which are held in treasury and as of close of business last Friday our cash balance is now GBP 9.5 million. Steve's now going to talk to you in more detail about the half one financial results.
Morning everybody. Starting with our revenue and gross margin, revenue for the first half is GBP 18.7 million which is up 15% compared to the previous year. This growth was the same in both quarter one and quarter two. Our increase in revenue is despite having minimal revenue in the period through M& S as a result of their cyber incident which held back our overall growth. The growth through our own website is the dominant factor in our overall growth for the first half being 28% up year on year and we'll cover that in much more detail later.
Moving on to gross margin, the critical objective that we set out to achieve was to deliver a substantial increase in our gross margin which we have done. For the first half, our gross margin has been maintained at 62.2% which is nearly seven percentage points up compared to where we were two years ago. The vast majority of this improvement is due to the reduction in price promotional activity on our own website. Gross margin has always been stronger on our other channels, with our own site historically lower as a result of much greater reliance on price promotions. Whilst being strong, our margin in the first half does not fully benefit from the strengthening of sterling against the dollar as our contracted rates were lower than the actual rate became. However, we will benefit from stronger sterling in the second half.
The stronger margin coupled with returning to revenue growth is what will deliver greater increases in PBT. Everything works better as a result of the stronger gross margin. Moving on to the financial statements in a little bit more detail starting with the P & L. For the first half our loss before tax is GBP 1.1 million compared to the loss of GBP 0.7 million in the same period last year. Our PBT is impacted by two main elements in the first half. Firstly the cyber incident at M&S , which is a one-off impact with trading now resumed in H2. Secondly, own stores which in the near term are weighing on profitability. With regards to stores, the year-on-year impact is predominantly content to the first half with the second half anticipated to be broadly flat versus last year.
From a profit perspective, as we've said, revenue is up 15% and gross margin is maintained at a really strong 62.2%. The increase in overhead includes the operating costs associated with our stores. Our first store opened in August 2024 so we had minimal costs in H1 last year. Therefore the increase in operating costs seen in H1 will be lower in H2. In addition, our overhead increase reflects the variable cost to deliver the growth in revenue including marketing which is paying back on first order. Julie will provide much more detail on this in a few moments time. From a balance sheet perspective we remain really robust with net assets of GBP 17 million. Our cash balance has strengthened with the net balance at the end of September being GBP 7.7 million which is an increase of GBP 0.4 million since March. We continue to have zero debt.
We have reduced our inventory since March by GBP 0.6 million. This reflects a planned reduction coupled with strong sell through during the first half of the financial year. The balance also includes stock that has landed already for the autumn winter season which is in greater quantum compared with last year, whilst creditors overall has remained broadly flat at GBP 7.5 million versus September 2024. Underneath this headline number is a reduction in trade payables of over GBP 1 million, which reflects stock landing earlier this year, plus more sea shipments, resulting in a greater proportion of stock being paid for by the end of September. This reduction is offset by higher provisions for returns which is purely a reflection of the stronger revenue growth compared to last year. Looking at our cash flow in greater depth, as we've said, the cash balance for the end of September is GBP 7.7 million.
This is really strong. It is also important to recognize that this is the lowest balance that we will hold across the financial year. This is because of the usual working capital cycle whereby we've paid for a large proportion of stock for the autumn winter season already and we will go on to sell this stock generating cash in the critical quarter three period, which is the largest trading quarter of the whole year. This cycle is the reason why our cash balance has increased to GBP 9.5 million as of last Friday. We're in excellent shape from a balance sheet perspective with a strong net cash position. We were cash generative in the period. With the stronger half of the year still to come, this is what's allowed us to commence with buying back our own shares.
At our annual general meeting in September, we received shareholder approval to purchase up to 10% of the company's issued share capital. In October, we received the court approval for a capital reduction, which was the prerequisite to buying back our own shares. As of today, the company has bought back 5 million shares, which are currently held in Treasury. In terms of our outlook for the second half of the year, our results for the first half show that we have momentum across all key channels. The strong trading has continued into October and now November. Importantly, momentum on our own website has continued into the second half with strong year-on-year growth. In addition, trading with M&S has now resumed. Our gross margin has, as anticipated, strengthened in H2 as we sell autumn product, which has stronger intake margins.
This is helped by the strengthening of sterling and improved contracted rates that we have against the dollar to date. Our gross margin in the second half is up by over two percentage points against the same period last year at 67%. Overall trading is in line with full year expectations, reflecting the usual weighting to the second half where the revenue is stronger and margins are higher.
Now we're going to give you an update on the business and the channels we sell through. We'll talk about product marketing and then we'll look at each of our own channels in turn. Our own website, our stores and third parties. First, to talk about product at Sosandar. We design and produce every single product category from knitwear, dresses, separates and denim to shoes, accessories, leather, PU, occasion wear, beach and swim. Our customers come back to us because they know they can find everything they need, whatever the moment calls for. What we're seeing here on the screen are some of our best selling styles from recent months. They're a reflection of how well our team understands the Sosandar woman, her lifestyle, her confidence and what makes her feel amazing. Our success lies in our ability to predict trends and truly connect with our customer.
The Sosandar DNA is unmistakable. It's sexy, chic and feminine with universal appeal across ages and sizes. It is this distinct handwriting that makes us stand out from our third party, stand out at our third party partners and keeps our customers coming back season after season.
The strong growth that we're seeing on our own website is being driven by great product, but also from our successful marketing strategy. Both new and repeat orders are growing significantly year on year. We take a balanced approach across digital and traditional channels using email brochures along with Google and Meta advertising. Every marketing decision we make is guided by data and driven by our deep understanding of our customers. The marketing activity that has always worked well for us is now showing an even better return on investment. Because the margin on our own website is 10 percentage points higher than it was two years ago, every order is more profitable, so new customer acquisition is now paying back on first order as well as constantly acquiring new customers. We are continuing to deepen the bond between Sosandar and our loyal, ever growing community of women.
Our customers consistently demonstrate their loyalty to the brand with the average repeat customer shopping with us four times a year and spending over GBP 100 per order. The strong engagement is achieved by talking directly to our customers through powerful content, visuals and video. Email marketing in particular, which is effectively a free marketing channel, continues to be our most powerful platform, delivering around half of our total revenue. In summary, we intend to continue with our current marketing strategy as we are confident it will deliver the growth ambitions of the business.
PR remains an integral part of the marketing strategy, delivering standout visibility and credibility for the brand at minimal cost. One of the most powerful drivers of PR for Sosandar has been celebrities choosing to wear our clothes, especially when they appear on TV. This happens pretty much daily, giving us prime time exposure at zero cost and reaching millions of women. We're proud to have a growing list of celebrity fans who genuinely love the brand and wear Sosandar time and again. Importantly, we don't pay them. They choose Sosandar because they feel great in our clothes. When a celebrity is seen wearing Sosandar, it has an immediate and measurable impact. We see a spike in sales and a wave of new customers discovering the brand for the first time. It's a brilliant combination of credibility, reach and genuine endorsement that continues to build our profile and drive growth.
Now coming on to talk about each of our channels in turn. Sosandar.com first. This sits at the very heart of our business. It's the cornerstone of our brand and it's the engine driving our growth. In the first half of the year, revenue from our own website increased by 28% year on year, underpinned by rising order volumes from both loyal returning customers and a growing base of new shoppers discovering Sosandar for the first time. Our own website is our single largest and most profitable revenue stream and it continues to be the fastest growing part of the business. Over the past two years, margin has expanded by 10 percentage points on our own website. We're also seeing the benefits of scale coming through very clearly.
As our own website revenue accelerates, our cost base does not increase at the same rate, therefore creating operating leverage and driving stronger profitability right across the business. The graphs you can see here demonstrate the growth across key KPIs. Orders, website visits and conversion have all increased significantly versus last year. We have seen this trend continuing into autumn, a result of a combination of great product range and an effective marketing strategy.
Looking at our channel mix in more detail, we're focused on delivering a greater proportion of our revenue from our own channels which will deliver higher profitability. All channels are important and we expect growth from them all, but much more substantial growth from our own website, which is what we are already seeing this year. Last year, 42% of our revenue was generated from our own website. Our target is to increase this to at least 55% in the coming years. This is important because the marginal gain from selling through our own website is much greater than through any other channel. In turn, this is what will lead to greater cut through to PBT growth.
Now to move on to our retail stores, we're forecasting around GBP 2 million in revenue for FY 2026, which is about 5% of our overall business. Since we opened the stores, around 60% of customers shopping in store are brand new to Sosandar and we're also seeing an uplift in both traffic and online revenue in those areas where we've opened stores. The stores currently weigh on profitability, but our first two stores, Chelmsford and Marlow, which have been open for just over a year, are up 16% year on year and they're both now close to break even. We've had a couple of tougher locations. Metrocentre and Cardiff have been more challenging. What we have found is that in smaller locations we very quickly build loyalty and repeat custom.
As customers tend to shop in these locations more frequently, our number one objective is to grow our profitability. Therefore, while stores overall are weighing on profitability, we will not open any more until we bring our existing portfolio to break even and beyond.
Moving on now to our third party partnerships, these are a big part of our growth story. In just five years, this channel has expanded from zero to delivering over GBP 19 million in annual net revenue, representing around half of our total business. We've built a model that plays to our strengths, primarily operating on a consignment basis where we pay commission to our partners and it's complemented by a selected number of wholesale relationships across every platform that we sell through. Sosandar consistently ranks as a top performing brand, highlighting both the strength of our product and the trust our partners place in us. As third party sales continue to be a strategic growth area for all of our partners, Sosandar's success is increasingly important to their own ambitions too. Our partnerships are also enabling us to expand internationally with no risk.
We sell through third party partners in Australia and the Middle East and we also now sell internationally through Next. Currently, 16% of our sales with Next are international. We've also deepened our relationship with Next to include a licensed homeware range, a natural extension of our brand that reflects the strong demand for our design aesthetic across new categories. This is a great example of how the Sosandar brand can evolve and diversify while we stay true to our core identity. Looking forward, the foundations are laid for sustained, profitable growth and our priorities are clear. First, to drive revenue growth and profitability through all of our channels, our own site, our established third party partners and our shops. Second, to maintain our strong gross margins by staying disciplined on buying and pricing and thirdly, to strengthen cash generation and keep the balance sheet robust.
We're trading well in the key autumn winter period and we are on track to meet our full year expectations. Thank you very much for listening everyone. I am going to hand over to you now for questions.
Thank you. We have had a number of questions pre submitted and submitted live. Just as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please type them into the Q & A box situated on the right hand side of your screen. Our first question is, does the company have any international expansion plans?
I'll take that one. As I mentioned right there towards the end, we, the way we're expanding internationally is by working with third party partners, primarily because this is a low risk way of expanding internationally without it being detrimental to profitability. We do also sell internationally on our own website, which is also a growing area as well. It is a very small part of our business at the moment. Next in particular, I think is proving quite interesting as an international partner. Next have openly stated that international growth is a key area for them. As I mentioned, 16% of our sales now through Next come from international partners.
Thank you, Julie. Our next question is how are you using customer data to improve conversion, retention and product development? What impact is AI having on business?
Okay, let's do the first part of that. Customer data is, you know, we've obviously got 10 years now worth of, nearly 10 years worth of customer data. Everything we do is driven by data. I would say that we combine our, you know, data knowledge along with our gut feeling and true understanding of how our customers behave. Data just sits at the heart of absolutely everything that we do. It very much in particular drives where we are in terms of marketing. You know, we've honed our marketing over the last nearly 10 years to really get to the point where we weren't far away from paying back on first order for new customers. With the rise in the margin, we are now comfortably paying back on first order, which is exactly where we wanted to get to.
Which means that we can keep scaling our marketing and effectively it pays for itself. It is really important in terms of artificial intelligence. I guess it is an ongoing learning for everybody, isn't it? We use it, we use AI for the imagery sometimes. We always have to a degree. For example, if we, it is just that the tools now are getting a lot better than they used to be. For example, when we repeat products, if we repeat it in a different color or a different print, we are able to change those, we are able to change those products without rephotographing them. That is obviously beneficial to the business because we have already got a great photo that we know works and we are able to just change the print generally. Apart from that, it is really just an ongoing.
I don't know if either of you had anything to add to that about AI. I mean, artificial intelligence has sat at the heart of everything that Meta does for, I mean, I guess years now. Because what that does, it's a machine that understands how customer behaves, how customers behave, and that enables you to use social media to best effect to make sure that you're targeting the right customers who are most likely to respond to your ads.
Thank you. Our next question is sustainability matters fashion. What are you doing in terms of sourcing materials and reducing environmental impact?
Sustainability has really always been important to us since we launched the business. We constantly, constantly move forward with our suppliers to create more sustainable materials. Also, the processes with which we make the garments, you know, the washing, the putting together, everything is we look at to make sure it's more sustainable. It is just a constant, ongoing process. As suppliers improve, we improve as well. It is really a joint venture, constantly trying to improve it.
Thanks, Ali. Next, we have a good 28% lift in your own website. Well done. What exactly drove that and how sustainable is it?
I'll take that first of all. The increase in our own website is partly being driven by natural organic behavior of people, just either new customers coming to us and also repeat customers shopping more frequently. I think it's important to go back to the decline in revenue that we saw on our own website was manufactured by us. That was not a natural thing, that our revenue went down on our own website. The reason the revenue went down is because we were pulling away from price promotional activity. All we're seeing is a return to natural growth on our own website. However, at 10 percentage points higher than we were two years ago, that's the really critical thing, because our customers have now got used to shopping and not necessarily waiting for price promotions to come along.
That's not to say that we'd never do price promotions. Clearly we do, because all retailers do. It is about the quantum of price promotions that we do. Customers do not get used to it. Now customers are very used to paying full price for products. Partly organic growth, which is excellent, but also partly is our marketing. We have dialed up our marketing activity this year and we are seeing really good payback on our marketing. Generally it is just product. Product fundamentally is what makes people come back time and time again. Having a really good product range, a combination of great new styles, great repeat styles, and really understanding what our customer wants to buy is what is driving it.
In terms of the quantum of growth on our own website, the precentage can be a little misleading because percentage obviously are dependent upon what the base level is. I think what we're confident in achieving is the quantum of growth to continue. In Q2 we were up GBP 1.4 million in revenue year on year, and we're expecting something similar to that in Q3. I think that will be the kind of quantum of growth that we are expecting to achieve in the site, in our own website going forward. What percentage that is will obviously vary because once the base is bigger, then the percentage is lower. I don't think we should be too hooked up on percentage so much as what the actual quantum increase is.
I think what's critical is also to look at how whatever the growth is through our website, how much of that cuts through to the PBT line. I think from a marginal gain perspective, for each, for each pound that we're adding, we would expect the marginal gain to be in the region of 30% PBT. That's really, really important. That number will fluctuate depending on where the revenue is coming from and what cost structures we've got to provide against that growth. Typically we would expect that kind of marginal gain, which is why we say so confidently that driving growth on our own website is the critical vehicle to drive in substantial gains in PBT now that the margin is so much higher.
The quantum is important, but it's also recognizing the importance of the relationship between revenue growth at the good margin and how that cuts through to PBT, which is what we'll start to see in the coming halves and years.
How do you propose to spend the rest of the premium account money?
I think that question is probably referring to the capital reduction that was approved and the subsequent that that gained the pave or paved the way to allow us to buy back shares or the company to buy back its own shares. It is probably just worth reflecting. The shareholder approval that we gained at the last AGM allowed us to or the company to buy back up to 10% of the issued share capital. That would be in the region of 25 million shares. To date, the company has bought 5 million shares, so about 20% of the authority that has been granted. If we are referring to what will we do next, or what do I expect to happen next, I expect that we will see further buying back shares to be held in treasury.
The timing of which will be dependent, but I'd fully expect that that's still the plan to utilize the authority that's been granted.
Thank you, Steve. Our next question is how confident are you that your customers won't trade down to cheaper brands if the cost of living squeeze continues?
I think. We, there's been economic difficulties, I would say, surrounding our customers. In the entire nine and a half years that we've been running the business we've never seen any evidence of customers trading down. I think quite the opposite actually. We also hear this from our third party partners. Often in times of economic difficulty, bizarrely, customers can trade up. What they tend to do is they buy less but they buy more expensive because they want things that are really good quality and they really give a lot more thought to what they're buying. We don't see anything changing than, you know, it's, we've had a very, very volatile number of years since we've been trading, I think and we don't really see anything particularly changing going forward other than it just, it just continues.
Thanks Julie. Our next question is can you give more info at store level on sales growth and op percentage, what improvement is needed to open more stores?
I'll take the second bit about opening stores on that. Basically the near term objective is basically to break even in our existing stores and this is our sole focus and we don't want to open any more at this point because we do not want any further weighing on profitability in particular when all our other channels are doing so well. Our number one objective is to grow our profitability. Therefore, whilst the stores overall are weighing on profitability, we won't open any more in the near term but we will continue to hone and refine the product mix because basically as revenue increases, as repeat customers grow, as basically the brand gets more established in the local areas and we are seeing year on year growth across all our stores.
Yeah, it's probably worth just adding a bit of depth to what we're seeing in the year on year performances. It's still premature to make, you know, significant statements about what the longer term or the mid to longer term might look like for each individual location because we're only just getting year on year kind of detail for the first four stores. The two that opened in August, September, obviously we've got a little bit longer. The other two that are the shopping center locations in Gateshead and in Cardiff are starting to anniversary. All four are ahead year on year, which is really important for us to see.
It's also just worth reiterating that the performance of the first two that opened in Chelmsford and Marlow that are up year on year are trading in such a trajectory that we could foresee that they will get to break even and then beyond within the next 12 month cycle. The other two, though, Cardiff and Gateshead, are much slower as a burn and their quantum of sales is such that they're not trading to the level that we would have hoped or as well as the locations in Market Towns. Those are the primary two locations that are weighing on our profitability. They all are because of where we are in the cycle. We can see the trajectory on the Market Towns much more clearly in a positive sense than we can the two shopping centers. That said, there are.
is a lot of anecdote that says shopping centers take longer to get to break even anyway because you get the traffic, but you do not get the regularity of visits from the same customer as you do in Market Towns, which is what is driving repeat purchases much more frequently in the locations of shopping centers. We are not disclosing detail on individual locations, but hopefully that gives a little bit of depth of what we are seeing now that we are starting to get beyond the first 12 months of trading.
Thank you. Following on from that, we have opening six of your own stores must have been a learning experience. What are the key takeaways for your future stores?
To open in Market Towns? I suppose will be the first one. I mean, I think we knew that location, location, location was everything. We've definitely learned that Market Towns are quicker to get to profitability, as both Ali and Steve have mentioned. I think we, it's reinforced for us that you've got to be in the right place in the, in the town. So we, with all our stores, all of them have got really good traffic. Traffic is not, you know, getting people into the shops is not an issue because we've gone into places that are high footfall, lots of people going into the stores. It's about conversion rate and conversion. Like with any new business, like when we started Sosandar at the beginning, beginning it takes time to build that brand connection. Get and get the conversion rate growing.
The thing that's growing in all the shops is conversion rates growing. With Marlow and Chelmsford, a conversion rate is significantly ahead of where they were 12 months ago, which is really positive, I guess. Other things we've learned is product mix is slightly different in stores. People tend to buy generally our kind of everyday clothing tends to do better in store, I would say. People buying just things that they can wear for all sorts of occasions. What else would we say?
I think for us, we just, we're learning all the time about the product mix constantly as we go through each season and how we can adapt that for the next season because it is slightly different to online. The more we learn as we go forward, the better it becomes.
The conversion
in a more strategic sense, I think we expected, but it's nice to see that how stores have enhanced brand awareness and brand equity. Although we have to caveat that we've only got six stores and we've not got national coverage, but in those locations where we're open, we can see traffic conversion and ordering on our own website has grown. That is important because whilst we talk about stores weighing on profitability, they are enhancing the overall proposition of Sosandar. It's very difficult to monetize that in a broader sense, of course, but it is an important facet of why we wanted to see whether stores could be part of the mix really to drive our growth. I think it's also worth saying that as a board, we looked at stores and talked about stores for a while before we did go ahead.
I think it's important that we have given it a go and by opening them we're enhancing awareness and we're enhancing the brand equity by having kind of a physical presence on the high street. I think it's an important aspect of what we're doing and shouldn't be looked at just in isolation, but in the context of the wider operation about how we're growing.
Thank you. Our next question is, as you alluded, the own website gross margin is 10% higher, so 70% plus versus the rest. Given that the blended margin has remained the same at 62.2% while the own website has grown, it must mean that the margin is decreasing in other channels. Could you elaborate what is the cause of this, please?
Yeah, that might be a misinterpretation of the data that we've provided. If we just look at the numbers in detail. Our overall margin for the first half of the financial year is just shy of 700 basis points up on where we were two years ago. If we look at our own website, that is up greater over a two to three year period. All of the margins are stable or growing as well. There are other factors, but I think the critical thing is the differential that used to exist between our own website and concessions, which is the other primary full price route to market, is now much closer and there is marginal differential now compared to where we were years ago.
The other aspect within the comparison is that how the proportion of wholesale business within the overall shape of the business is changing. It is not as easy as just putting all of those numbers together and getting the answer. I think the critical thing is though 62% is very strong. We are expected to grow by about 200 basis points in H2, which means that our weighted average for the full year will be between around the 63%-64% mark, which I think is a good barometer for what the future margin overall will be. That is the critical takeaway really, that the margin is in a good place and we have got some growth to come in H2.
Thank you, Steve. The next question is why are you holding the buyback shares in treasury?
They've been holding treasury for lots of reasons. You will know from our annual report that there are share options in place for the senior management team in particular. It's a good way of neutralizing any exercise in future of that. The absolute other reasons why we might be holding them is a bit TBC at the moment, but I think it's a critical way of using cash that we're now generating. Yeah, that's probably the overall reason for now.
Thank you. Next, we hear about companies sadly going bust in the current climate. Can you tell us if you're seeing new competitors and who the closest competition are? Sorry.
New at all.
There's been absolutely nobody new, I don't think in trade, to be honest, just full stop. The only new companies you ever really seem to see at the minute are Athleisure companies targeting younger target. Younger target audience.
Yeah, I don't think our competitors have changed probably since we last spoke to you. I mean, we've always said our customer, you know, she does shop in a wide variety of stores. Probably our closest in terms of demographic might be Mint Velvet, but they have a very, very different aesthetic to us. That's why we're doing so well because our aesthetic is different to everybody else who's out there. Yeah, I don't think our competitors have changed really and no, no new ones.
No. I think one of the ironies, probably two of our biggest competitors are also our biggest partners on Next and Marks & Spencer. I mean our price point is at the premium end of those brands in terms of their own label, but we're not vastly more expensive than their own brands. Obviously we sell amazingly well through both of those partners. It is interesting that your biggest competitor can also be your biggest partner.
Thank you. The next question is in terms of buying back shares, what level of cash are you comfortable with throughout the year? Therefore, how many more shares would you like to purchase?
If you don't mind, I won't answer that question about what our buffer is, if that's the question. What I would say is that depending on the share price, of course we're comfortable that we could go to the 10% authority, but that of course is dependent on what the share price is at the time of any execution of the company buying its own shares.
Thank you. Next, we have how far away is your stated ambition of GBP 100 million sales? GBP 10 million op profit.
We did say that. I think if we look at the metrics that the business is now delivering, it's probably worth reflecting on the shape of the marginal gains that can be driven from particularly growth and proportionate growth on our own website. To get to a 10% PBT margin, we don't need to do GBP 100 million of revenue, we need to do much, much less than that. The relationship from revenue to PBT, as long as the proportional growth is on our own website, will be at substantially lower revenue. The reason for that is the operating leverage from payback on first order from marketing, the way that those customers go on to repeat purchase, and the margins that we're now generating at gross level mean that we get substantial cut through.
I said it in an earlier answer that the marginal gain through our own website from each pound of revenue is in the region of 30%. The reason for that is that we do not need to add any fixed cost structure to that growth. It has some cost to service that extra, extra pound of revenue, but the cut through is substantial. You can start to see how substantial gains in PBT can start to be delivered as long as everything else is equal. We will not restate the ambition because the ambition is still large. I think the critical near term objective is to get the business much more profitable and then onward to 10% returns and thereafter beyond.
Thank you. Next, we have, cyber is clearly a worry and hurt M&S . Do you feel our systems are well protected and do we have good insurance to cover if attacked?
The second part of the question, yes, and we always have had good coverage in terms of cyber. We're well supported both from our IT partners and from our insurance broker to make sure that we've got the best coverage that we will need. That means that if there were a worst case scenario that we're well supported by a business that will support us to get back on track as quickly as possible in terms of what we do on an ongoing basis. We always have and we haven't actually changed anything as a result of what's happened with M&S or with Land Rover. We've always done penetration testing and beyond to see whether a third party independently can break through in any of our systems.
What helps at Sosandar is that the vast majority of everything that we do is in the cloud, which in itself helps. We have a pretty lean structure whereby we have not got lots of disparate systems that need to talk to each other. There are not many ways that people can break through. We also do, as an ongoing matter of course, regular and refresh training courses for people because one of the ways in which things like this happen are as simple as people providing passwords or access to their system when they should not do so. It is really important that all levels in the organization have training and refresher and understand the importance of not doing things that they should not do. That stood us in good stead. I feel as comfortable as we can be.
I think it would be naive to say that we're immune. We're not, no one is. I think we're as comfortable as we can be because of the structures that we have in place and the support mechanisms that we have around us.
We are now moving on to our final question. If you have any further questions, please email the team who will respond to any questions that were not covered this morning. The question is, if someone walks into a Sosandar store for the first time, what is the single feeling you want them to walk out with?
I think we've always felt like the Sosandar brand is very warm and inclusive and I think that's the feeling that you get from our stores. We also want them to walk in and feel like there's anything there for any occasion that they would need and if they buy something that they walk out feeling amazing.
Thank you. We currently have no further questions, so I'll hand back over to the management team for any closing remarks.
We'll just say thank you all very much for joining us today. Thank you for great questions and we look forward to seeing you again next year.