Chief executive Julian Dunkerton said Superdry is seeing "light at the end of the tunnel" after the fashion brand reported a 21 per cent drop in annual revenue.

The Cheltenham-based company saw revenue drop from £704.4million to £556.6million in the 12 months to April 24 as shop closures during lockdown hit sales.

Store revenue fell by 50.9 per cent throughout the year to £140.9. but ecommerce revenue rose by a third to £202.9 million.

And while wholesale revenue also fell - down 19.9 per cent to £212.8million - the final quarter brought positive figures with group revenue up 0.8 per cent to £118.3milion.

Mr Dunkerton said: "Our strengthened ecommerce presence has helped mitigate the impact from enforced closures of our stores.

"We returned to revenue growth in Q4 and our commitment to a full-price stance over the period has seen significant online margin improvement.

"Our liquidity remains strong with closing net cash ahead of last year and our facilities remain undrawn."

The trading statement said the company is "confident of growth" in revenue and profitability over the next 12 months if there are no further lockdowns.

"The early signs following the reopening of our UK stores are encouraging as lockdown restrictions start to lift and we can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Mr Dunkerton.

"In short, we are on track with our reset of the brand and there's a lot to look forward to."

Former Helly Hansen chief executive Peter Sjolander started as the new chairman of Superdry last week.