Mosaic to invest in online and roll out 40 new megastores

Mosaic Brands has reported its final results for FY23 as being in line with the company’s July market update. Mosaic Brands operates Millers, Rockmans, Noni B, Rivers, Katies, Autograph, W. Lane, Crossroads and Beme brands. FY23 resulted in a EBITDA of $ 17.1m for FY23 against a loss of $ 16.4m in the prior year, and a 6 percent absolute sales growth over 2022. 

“This $33 million turnaround is not simply a result of customers returning to in-store shopping post the pandemic,” said Mosaic Brands CEO Scott Evans. “It is a recognition by the Group that retail has forever changed, customer expectations have shifted dramatically and that resuming our consistent pre-Covid profitability required taking a leap forward rather than taking a step back.” 

Despite Mosaic Brands appointment of administrators to online marketplace EziBuy earlier this year, Mr Evans cited online sales growth as driving the companies success this year. 

Online sales contributes a fifth of Group revenue and saw 4.4 million items shopped in FY23. NExt year this is set to increase with the roll out of a new online platform, including AI-powered customer analysis, which is expected to be completed within the first quarter of FY24. “Our BIG Strategy sees Mosaic Brands maintain and expand our core customer base, as seen in the Rivers brand, while drawing in an increasingly value-conscious cross-section of the community,” said Mr Evans. “The outcome is Mosaic Brands transitioning to become a more ageless, value-driven big-box retailer across Australia and regional Australia in particular,” he said. 

The announcement that 40 new mega stores are also in the pipeline for FY24. The company says these are typically three times more profitable than mall or standard size store. The majority of these mega stores are planned to service regional Australia.

“Mosaic Brands has survived the pandemic-induced downturn and emerged as a more value driven, operationally-lean, and strategically-focused organisation that has a clear vision as to where future growth opportunities in the retail landscape sit,” Mr Evans said.