City Chic flags strong ‘first 18 weeks of FY26’ performance but illiquidity remains

City Chic Collective (ASX:CCX) has released a rather unusual ‘Week 18 trading update’ intended to recapture some good vibes around the stock after a poor run in recent history – with promising indications its FY26 turnaround could stretch further to impress.

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“The positive momentum reported in the first eight weeks of FY26 has continued, driven primarily by a strong performance in the ANZ business, which is up 10.0% on the prior corresponding period,” CCX wrote on Tuesday, remember they’re talking about versus pcp as in the first 18 weeks of FY25 (not the world’s most common metric).

To understand the context here, or motivation for today’s release, one should look a the company’s 5Y chart. City Chic Collective was a beneficiary of the lockdown years, but typical for most companies that were, those heady years came with a Pharaoh’s curse.

One needn’t look further than below:

While the company was keen to highlight its ANZ region success on Tuesday, CEO Phil Ryan also said the U.S. business “has remained profitable.”

“[That’s] despite the strategic reduction in purchasing we implemented in response to tariff-induced volatility. The resilience of the US consumer has been a pleasant surprise, and we’re encouraged by the underlying strength of our direct-to-consumer channels,” Ryan added.

“The next eight weeks are crucial to the half-year result, and with improved product in market and the sell though achieved to date, we have positioned ourselves well to deliver on our plan.”

That may be well and good, but CCX has another issue to consider when it comes to the $33M-capped company’s share price: it’s illiquid. As at 11.40am AEDT on Tuesday, only $60K shares had traded hands.

CCX last traded at 9cps.

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