N Brown posts profit growth, despite exceptional costs

This was due to exceptional charges of £56.9m, incurred during the first half, as previously announced.

These were due to a customer redress for historic insurance products (£40m), store closures (£13.8m), and external costs relating to taxation matters (£3.1m).

Chief executive Angela Spindler said: “Against a challenging market backdrop I am delighted to be reporting profit growth, with Simply Be the standout brand.

“The second half was difficult for the fashion sector.

“A good performance in financial services provided the group with resiliency to enable us to continue to invest in our customer offer, successfully driving revenue and market share growth.

“Our strategy continues to deliver results, with market share gains in the UK, USA revenue up 21% in the second half, new partnerships under way and almost three quarters of our revenues now coming online.”

She added: “March was a challenging month for fashion retail, however, trade is improving through April, and at this early stage in the new financial year our overall expectations are unchanged.”

N Brown Group’s key retail brands are JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo.

It focuses on the needs of ‘underserved customer groups’ covering size 20+ and age 50+.

The group offers an extensive range of products, predominantly clothing, footwear and homewares, and its financial services proposition allows customers to spread the cost of shopping with the business.

Headquartered in Manchester, N Brown employ more than 2,600 people across the UK.

Today’s results show that its three power brands continue to outperform the wider brand portfolio, in line with strategy.

Simply Be continues to be the standout brand, with revenue up 16.3%.

The group relaunched the JD Williams brand at the start of the second half, which resonated well and drove a 21% increase in new customers following the relaunch.