Bonmarché’s £8m profits fight off ‘challenging trading conditions’

Bonmarché has fought off “challenging trading conditions” affecting many high street retailers by posting a 38% increase in profit before tax to £8m in its latest preliminary results for FY18.

The women’s clothing retailer reported a surge in profits despite a fall in revenue from £190m to £186m. Store like-for-like sales were down 4.5% however online sales were up by 35%.

Bonmarché said it delivered profit growth in line with board expectations in a challenging market thanks to strong online growth and tight control of gross margin and costs. It also attributed the improvements to “maintained flexibility of store estate” which had allowed “rapid reaction to future changes in consumer shopping preferences”.

Against the backdrop of challenging trading conditions Bonmarche said it was “pleased to have delivered an increase in profit before tax compared to last year”.

Helen Connolly, chief executive of Bonmarché, said: “Whilst we expect the market to remain difficult, trading since the beginning of the new financial year has been stronger than during H2 of FY18, and is in line with the board’s expectations.

“We have a clear strategy in place to continue to improve our proposition, which we expect to do during FY19 and beyond. We remain confident that with its unique offering, aimed at fashion and value conscious women, Bonmarché is well positioned for future growth.”