N Brown revenues up 2.6% for 15 weeks to 14 June 2014

18 Jun '14

3 min read

Fashion that fits N Brown Group, the online, catalogue and stores retailer, announces a quarterly trading update for the 15 weeks to 14 June 2014.

Total group revenues were up 2.6%, including like-for-like growth of 2.5%. This is in line with our plan for the quarter

-Performance of Simply Be and Jacamo up 6% and 10% respectively.

-Store like-for-like sales were strong at +20%.

-The “Famous Five” Home categories were up 10% year on year.

-Demand in the USA was up 15%.

Strategic transitional period

-Reduced participation of non-core home and electrical ranges.

-Re-phasing of marketing spend to an in-season model

-Short-term impact on sales – the last six weeks of the quarter have significantly increased (high single digits).

Other Highlights:

-Online penetration is at 58% - fuelled by further service improvements.

-UK and Turkey-sourced Fast Fashion launched for Simply Be for the first time.

-TV favourite Lorraine Kelly announced as brand ambassador for JD Williams.

-Seven further Simply Be/Jacamo dual branded stores opening, creating a total of 240 jobs in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Norwich and Exeter and our Oxford Street store, which opens in September.

Angela Spindler, Chief Executive, commented, “We are in a period of transition to move us toward our mission to be ‘the leading Global retailer famous for making shopping for fashion easy and enjoyable regardless of size’. We have stepped up the pace of change and we are making progress. We are modernising the business, broadening our appeal and refocusing on our differentiated proposition - fashion that fits. Best of all our customers are already noticing these improvements, as we can see from the performance through the quarter. We have improved the quality of our sales and are on track with our plans for the year as a whole”.

Trading Update

Total group revenues in the period were up 2.6%, including like-for-like growth of 2.5%. This is in line with our plan for the quarter. As a result of re-phasing our marketing investment year-on-year our performance strengthened considerably through the quarter.

Growth over the period was supported by the performance of our younger titles, Simply Be and Jacamo which were up 6% and 10% respectively. Online penetration remains strong at 58%, fuelled by further service improvements, including the recent introduction of Sunday deliveries. Our stores continue to trade well, up 20% on a like-for-like basis and have now annualised on the introduction of Jacamo to the footprint.

We are in the process of contemporising our proposition to broaden our appeal and accelerate our growth potential. This means changing the way we go to market.

Click here to view full results.

N Brown Group

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