N Brown looks upmarket as profits rise
RETAILER N Brown said it is looking for more acquisition opportunities as it revealed a 5.5% rise in half year profits to £44.1m.
Chief executive Alan White said the Manchester-based company which in the last year has acquired clothing chain High & Mighty and online lingerie brand Figleaves, was looking for businesses with which appeal to upmarket customers.
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “There are lots of opportunities around, but quite a few are distressed situations, and having bought High & Mighty and Figleaves which are both turnaround plays, we have to make sure we don’t spread ourselves too thinly.
“All of our recent acquisitions have been serving an AB customer market, and this is where we want to grow.”
In the 26 weeks to August 28 N Brown grew total revenues by 3.2% to £349.7m. of which a record £150m , some 43% of the total, came from online sales.
The company which runs a host of catalogues and websites for older shoppers, such as JD Williams and Ambrose Wilson, has been reaching out to younger, larger consumers through new brands such as Jacamo for men and Marisota for women.
Sales at Jacamo, which offers fashionable clothing in big sizes, leapt 57% in the half year and at Marisota up 44%.
Mr White said he was pleased with the progress of High & Mighty, which is opening three new stores in Liverpool, Belfast and Newcastle in the second half.
“We’ve done a lot of work with it – relocated the head office, moved the internet platform, upgraded the Point of Sale, refurbished three stores, relocated three stores and sales are up. It’ll be in profit in the second half, which is good for a business that collapsed into administration 12 months ago.”
“High & Mighty is doing really well and it’s going to be very good for us.”
He said Figleaves, which was acquired in June, would not be in profit until next year, but was also proving to be a good acquisition.
“In terms of them as an Internet business, it’s pretty advanced, and there is a lot we can learn from it, but it has a quite costly infrastructure which need a higher level of sales to support it, and that is what we have to do by cross-selling to our other brands and products.”
The firm said bad debts were also significantly reduced and that it was seeing good progress in both its new international markets, the US and Germany.
Sales have continued to grow in the second half and in the six weeks to October 9 are up 2.1% like-for-like. An interim dividend of 5.04p, up 15.1% will be paid.
