Farfetch CEO José Neves. Photo credit: TechCrunch, under Creative Commons license

Online luxury retailer Farfetch has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2020, indicating $79 million in losses on revenues of $331 million. Farftech’s $79 million Q1 loss compares to about $70 million in losses recorded in the same quarter last year. Revenues, on the other hand, shot up 90% from $174 million in Q1 2019 to $331 million in Q1 2020. Gross merchandise sales boosted from $419 million in Q1 last year to about $611 million this year.

It seems Farfetch is doing well even in the midst of a pandemic that has negatively affected sales of luxury items. In April of this year, Farfetch successfully issued $400 million in convertible bonds to help strengthen its balance sheet and fund operations given that the company isn’t currently profitable. Earlier, in February, Farftech also sold $250 million worth of convertible bonds to Chinese tech giant Tencent and San Francisco-based venture capital firm Dragoneer Investment Group. Thanks to both bond sales, Farfetch’s balance sheet currently stands at more than $800 million, seemingly enough to keep things steady as Farfetch works to become profitable. Farfetch seems to be aiming for profitability by next year.

In the wake of a coronavirus pandemic, Farfetch has had to close down most of its retail stores as well as production studios in Los Angeles. Many of the brands that serve as luxury sellers on the company’s platform have also temporarily closed their stores, entailing they’re unable to fulfill orders. This may significantly harm Farfetch’s business in the short-term but the company seems to have some protection thanks to its use of multiple sellers around the globe.

Farfetch itself stated that it observed a growth slowdown in European and North American markets that coincided with the enactment of lockdown policies towards the end of the first quarter of this year. If such lockdown policies sustain, the second quarter of this year may not be as good as the first quarter for the company.