N Brown at the height of fashion

A NEW range of corsetry by celebrity style guru Gok Wan helped home catalogue giant N Brown remain bang in fashion with its customers.

The Manchester-based firm today defied the doom and gloom among retailers to post a bumper hike in profits on the back on new product launches and investment in its online channels.

In the 26 weeks to August 30, pre-tax profit was up 19.6% to £40.8m, while total sales increased by 12.6% to £322.8m.

The group has been boosted by new ranges including those by Gok Wan and celebrity designer Caryn Franklin, as well as the fact that its biggest customer group is those aged between 45 and 65 and are less affected by the current economic downturn.

N Brown said the rapid switch from telephone to online ordering has continued with sales over the web soaring by 45% to £106m, and they now account for 33 per cent of total revenue.

Ladieswear sales were up 9% to £182m, menswear rose by 24% to £26m while turnover in the home and leisure division increased by 23% to £81m.

While Mr White added that the uncertain length and depth of the economic downturn is still a worry for retailers, an 11.8 per cent increase in sales for the first five weeks of the new financial year gives the group confidence it can deliver growth in the second half.

However the group has adopted a more cautionary approach by holding its recruitment spend and tightening credit policies.

N Brown chairman, Lord Alliance of Manchester, added: “It is encouraging that we are maintaining growth across all of our customer groups and product ranges.

“We know that we need to be conscious of the uncertainty, however with the expertise of our management team and the positive start to the second half, I remain confident that we can deliver another good performance.”

The group proposed a 4.9% hike in its interim dividend to 2.78p.