LONDON - British fashion group Superdry on Tuesday reported a wider first-half loss and another big drop in sales in the Christmas quarter, hurt by COVID-19 lockdowns that have shuttered its stores.

The company, best known for its sweatshirts, hoodies, jackets and coats, made an underlying pretax loss of 10.6 million pounds ($14.4 million) in the six months to Oct. 24, versus a loss of 2.3 million pounds in the same period in 2019.

First-half revenue slumped 23.3% to 282.7 million pounds and was down 27.2% in the 11 weeks to Jan. 9.

Superdry said 23% of owned store trading days were lost in the first half and 38% in the latest quarter due to lockdown restrictions and the continued impact of social distancing on footfall even when open.

As of Jan. 9, 173 stores were temporarily closed, representing 72% of its estate.

Most Superdry stores are in major city centres and retail sites, locations most impacted by the pandemic in terms of shopper numbers. So it has suffered even when its stores have been open.

It said e-commerce sales partially offset lost store sales, accounting for half of its retail revenue in the first half.

The group, whose shares have fallen by more than 40% over the last year, said it was more difficult than ever to forecast for the full 2020-21 year.

"We recognise the material uncertainty noted in our going concern assessment, and we are not providing formal guidance at this time for FY21 or beyond," it said, adding it had net cash of 54.8 million pounds.

($1 = 0.7351 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Paul Sandle and Jason Neely) ((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com))