City Chic, the plus-size fashion retailer with stores across Australia and New Zealand, is in the middle of a reset that keeps revenue roughly steady at about $69 million for the 26 weeks to December 28, even as it halves its net loss to $3.5 million and leans harder into full‑price sales at home. The group has spent the past few years unwinding pandemic-era inventory mistakes and restructuring its overseas operations, including selling a major US brand and cutting back stock to avoid being stuck with heavily discounted ranges again.
Under the surface the numbers tell a story of mixed fortunes. Sales in Australia and New Zealand rose more than 7% as customers paid more for higher‑end, fashion‑forward pieces and same‑store sales across the network increased by 4.2%. However, the Americas division saw sales tumble by around one‑third after the retailer deliberately reduced inventory in response to new US tariffs on China-sourced goods, a big issue given most of its clothing and accessories come from Chinese suppliers. Despite the top-line pressure, cost savings and efficiency programs are helping offset inflation and higher operating expenses while the USA business still appears to be profitable on its own, with summer 2026 inventory already ordered to support a planned rebound later in the financial year.
Looking ahead the picture seems cautiously more positive but still uncertain. In the first eight weeks of the second half, revenue in Australia and New Zealand is up about 9% and trading margins are reported to be roughly 17% higher, which suggests the focus on cleaner stock and better pricing is starting to pay off. The company has also cleaned up its balance sheet, fully repaying debt during the half and finishing with $5.4 million in cash, and extending a $10 million debt facility out to March 2028, which gives it more breathing room. Even so, global tariff moves, reliance on Chinese sourcing and a still-fragile share price now around 12 cents compared with a peak of $6.70 in 2021 mean the turnaround looks like a work in progress rather than a done deal.
