Fast-fashion retailer Shein’s profit slumped by almost 40 percent last year, putting further pressure on a potential initial public offering in the UK, the Financial Times reported, citing people it didn’t identify.
Net income fell to $1 billion even as sales jumped 19 percent to $38 billion, according to the report. The figures are internal projections before accounts are finalized, one of the people told the newspaper.
Shein doesn’t publish profit guidance, but a 2023 presentation to investors forecast $4.8 billion profit and $45 billion sales for last year, according to the FT. The retailer didn’t respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
The company, which was valued at $66 billion in a funding round in 2023 and as high as $100 billion in 2022, confidentially filed papers in June for a London IPO. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that the firm was under pressure to cut its valuation to about $30 billion.
Founded in China but now based in Singapore, Shein became one of the world’s most valuable startups thanks to its high-volume, low-cost fashion.
The FT previously reported that the company may push its listing to the second half of the year following US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on tariff-free imports of small goods from China.
By Valentine Baldassari
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