New Look reports profit rise
New Look has reported it has stabilised its profits, supported by an overachievement of its cost savings.
For the 13 weeks to 29 June 2018 the retailer’s EBITDA was up 1.5% to £27.6m, which was stabilised by £70m annualised cost savings in Q1. Its underlying operating profit up 19% at £14.4m.
New Look’s revenue fell by 2.7% to £329.4m while its branded like-for-like sales dropped by 4%.
It described its multichannel model as “cohesive”, saying in-store and e-commerce customer conversion rates improved while its click and collect sales mix increased to 40% driving footfall into stores.
The fashion retailer recently entered a CVA, with plans to shut up to 60 of its stores and reduce its rents by 60%. In its last financial result, it reported an operating loss of £74.3m.
Alistair McGeorge, executive chairman, said: “We ended the quarter with a clean stock position and have seen improved sales performance in the areas we have addressed so far in our product review. We are confident there is more to come as we focus on our remaining product ranges.
“As we recover the broad appeal of our product, we were pleased to improve our market performance and deliver better customer conversion rates. This shows the strength and resilience of our brand, and the positive impact of the changes we are making.”
