Cettire gets auditor’s tick of approval, adding $247m to valuation Jonathan Shapiro, Joshua Peach and Carrie LaFrenz
Updated Sep 24, 2024 – 4.24pm, first published at 1.42pm
Cettire’s auditors have finally signed off on the account after a month of discussions, sending the online luxury retailer’s share price surging nearly 70 per cent, valuing the company at $850 million.
In August, Cettire alarmed investors after warning Grant Thornton had yet to sign off on its accounts, and had sought clarification about how and when it recognised revenues.
Cettire sells premium, luxury-branded clothes at steep discounts. It sends products directly from suppliers in Italy and France, raising questions about whether it was an agent earning a commission or if it was a retailer.
Cettire has spent most of the year battling to convince investors of the merits of its drop-shipping business model for luxury goods. Dominic Lorrimer
Concerns about the company’s opaque business model have made it a divisive investment. It has had a meteoric rise, with shares up 60 per cent in the two months to March and a market capitalisation of almost $2 billion.
Since then, however, share values have seesawed.
Shares fell 20 per cent in late August after Cettire released unaudited accounts and said conditions in the luxury goods market were likely to remain difficult.
Some of the company’s international rivals, including Britain’s MatchesFashion, have collapsed while Farfetch, once the biggest luxury e-commerce platform, narrowly avoided failure.
Cettire shares, which are among the most shorted on the ASX, rose earlier this month after the company’s founder, Dean Mintz, increased his stake in the business by 3 per cent – to 33 per cent – for the first time since he started selling down his holding.
On Tuesday, hedge fund sources said prime brokers were recalling shares, triggering a so-called “short squeeze”, in which short sellers are forced to buy back shares driving prices higher.
The company has spent most of the year battling to convince investors of the merits of its drop-shipping business model. The Australian Financial Reviewdetailed this year how Cettire charged customers duties on a basket of goods that were not paid to customs officials, and in the United States declared goods at a lower value than the amount charged to customers, lowering duties paid relative to duties collected.
Cettire specialises in shipping luxury products from Europe at significantly reduced prices to those that can be found in the brands’ own stores. Bloomberg
In response, Cettire changed its check-out policy to include duties and taxes in the price advertised on its website. Duties and taxes was identified by Grant Thornton as a key audit matter.
The audit firm said it had sought advice from external experts to verify Cettire’s calculations and determine whether they were “reasonable and in line with the relevant laws and regulations for the relevant countries”.
Cettire on Tuesday also announced they had appointed Kelsian director Caroline Elliott as an independent non-executive director, amid calls to appoint a female member to its board.
Despite more recent weakness in online luxury retail, Cettire has been sought after by investors for its steep growth projections.
Those hopes have stalled, with the company reporting a profit of $10.5 million in the 12 months ended June 30 compared to $16 million one year earlier. Sales in July and August were 20 per cent above the same period last year, but remained below investor and broker expectations.
While Regal Partners and Connecticut-headquartered Cat Rock Capital Management are two vocal backers, there are many funds that have bet against Cettire.
“Sometimes you come across a business model with just so many question marks around [its] sustainability, and you just have to take a position,” QVG Capital’s Josh Clark told investors on Tuesday, confirming the fund management firm had a short position on Cettire.
“Ultimately, we just followed the lead of the founders selling stock. We were a bit early on that one, and endured some painful volatility initially.”
CTT Price at posting:
$2.38 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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