N Brown Group posts revenues of £922m

Fashion retail group N Brown’s latest financial results show group revenue reached £922m for the full year, up 3.9% from the previous year.

For the 52 weeks to 3 March the group’s boost in revenue was driven by strong performances from its three key brands, with a 16.9% increase in sales from its “standout brand”, Simply Be.

JD Williams saw a 3.2% rise in sales and the group’s male plus-size brand Jacamo reported a 5.1% increase. The group said that the results were attributed to a “good performance in footwear and accessories”.

Online revenue was also up 10% year-on-year with N Brown announcing that 76% of all its online traffic came from mobile devices.

However N Brown’s statutory profits were down by 71.9% to £16.2m which the company said was a result of “exceptional costs of £56.9m predominantly relating to customer redress for historic general insurance products and store closures”.

Angela Spindler, chief executive, said: “Against a challenging market backdrop I am delighted to be reporting profit growth, with Simply Be the standout brand. The second half was difficult for the fashion sector.

“A good performance in financial services provided the group with resiliency to enable us to continue to invest in our customer offer, successfully driving revenue and market share growth.

“Our strategy continues to deliver results, with market share gains in the UK, USA revenue up 21% in the second half, new partnerships underway and almost three quarters of our revenues now coming online.

“March was a challenging month for fashion retail, however,trade is improving through April, and at this early stage in the new financial year our overall expectations are unchanged.”