Lyst losses widen but revenue and member numbers grow fast

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 13, 2023

Lyst has filed its accounts for the year to last March with the company saying that it generated revenue of £41.6 million, an increase of 17% year on year. 

The company is a major name in the world of fashion search, and is also known for its regular quarterly reports detailing the hottest brands, trends and products globally in the premium and luxury sectors.

In the period, the company grew its reach through existing and new marketing channels, resulting in 182 million unique visitors, up from 156 million a year before. And as it transitions towards being a member-first business, it grew is membership base to 18 million, exactly double the number of the previous year.

Its investment in long-term strategic initiatives helped its revenue growth and resulted in negative EBITDA of £27.2 million, much wider than the £7.9 million loss of the year to the end of March 2021.

And with a big rise in administration expenses from £44 million in the previous period to £69 million, it's not surprising that the company made a net loss of £27.6 million, much bigger than the £10.1 million of the prior year.

It said, understandably, that its focus for the future is profitability. It added that this will be achievable through “a pivot in digital marketing strategy to operate channels on a positive return on investment, foregoing accelerated growth”. It would also be achieved through careful, cost management and headcount reduction. And, in addition, it planned to further grow its membership base, "strengthening the value proposition to partners and improving personalisation for customers". 

The company said in the accounts that it expected such a long-term focus could “not only grow the user base, but also to improve the company’s unit economics”.