March 5, 2015

Surfstitch Has Got Billion Dollar Dreams

Surfstitch has reported a pretty awesome first half of the year putting them on target to reach (and possibly exceed) the full year guidance in their IPO prospectus. Sales were up 23% year on year to the end of December, this may be partially down to the addition of Swell and Surfdome to the company but I’m not sure.

Still, the guys are dreaming big and looking to bring sales over AU$1bn in five years time. All going well they’ll come in just shy of $200 million this year so it’s a pretty incredible target they’ve set. They see the opportunities in taking business from physical stores, expanding into Asia, Canada, South America, Spain and Italy, as well as beating their pure-play online rivals. If they can stay ahead of the game in their technology and find efficient ways to convert language and currency between countries, that would seem like their biggest opportunity.

Compare these results with Surfstich’s former majority shareholder, Billabong, who reported sales of AU$522 million for the quarter but is certainly not as confident in their projections for future growth, and has a far larger infrastructure burden than the online retailers.

It’s easier to project confidence when you’re on target and talking big, rather than issuing cautiously optimistic statements, but I think it affects how people and investors will consider the companies for sure.

Read more on this here: The Age – Surfstitch sets sights on $1b prize

by Dave