N Brown warns on profits
N BROWN, the multi-channel retailer specialising in larger sizes, has warned full-year profits will be lower than originally expected after seeing weak sales at the start of the second half.
It said sales had been affected by an unseasonably warm autumn and revised down the expected pre-tax profit figure to £88m-£92m, down from £103.4m expected by analysts.
In the six months to the end of August like-for-like sales were down by 0.5% while pre-tax profits slipped 3.2% to £42.7m, on sales of £407.3m, down 0.6%.
The Manchester company, which is best known for brands such as JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo, said its figures had also been affected by a period of “substantial change”.
Among the measures introduced by chief executive Angela Spindler are a change to the timings of marketing activity around product launches, with a re-phasing towards the second half. The group has also decided to stop selling large electrical items which it said attracted higher levels of bad debt.
Ms Spindler said: “We have stepped up the pace of change in the business designed to unlock the potential value we see in a proposition built around fashion that fits. In modernising the way we operate and the way we go to market, we are focused on: attracting more customers by raising brand awareness and broadening our appeal; building customer loyalty through further product and service improvements; and creating a modern scalable infrastructure so that the business is fit for the future.
“Despite the negative effects of recent market conditions on performance, I am confident that we are taking the right actions and are making good progress.”
