Philip Green’s Arcadia records £10.9m loss

Topshop owner Arcadia Group – Philip Green’s retail empire – has recorded a loss of £10.9m in the year up to August 2017, starkly contrasting with last year when it profits were £59.4m.

Accounts filed at Companies House showed the group also saw a 6% drop in sales down to £933.6m.

An impairment on a fixed asset and provisions for onerous leases led to the company losing £12.6m. These provisions are made when retailers cannot cover the cost of lease with store profits. Provision for loss making Topshop stores rose from £730,000 to £4.2m.

The results come after Philip Green’s Taveta Investments company announced 42% drop in operating profit.

Ian Grabiner, chief executive of Taveta, said: “The retail environment remains highly competitive and challenging. While we have found headline sales and profits disappointing, we remain a strongly cash generative business and had a positive net cash balance at the year end of £157.2m.”

As many as 41 stores were closed by Taveta when leases were up for renewal, the group also had to negotiate a rent cut on a further 25 outlets.