French Connection’s losses narrow as it extends period for formal sales process
French Connection has seen its losses narrow in the first half of its financial year.
In the six months to 31 July, the fashion retailer’s pre-tax underlying operating loss was £5.3 million compared to £5.5 million in the same period in the previous year.
Group revenue declined by 12.2% to £51 million due to an ongoing reduction in the company’s store portfolio and a shift in timing of wholesale shipments into the second half of the year. Retail revenues fell by 12.8% to £23.8 million.
Meanwhile, like-for-like sales in the UK and Europe edged up 1.4%.
Stephen Marks, French Connection chairman and chief executive, said: “I am pleased that the changes we have made to the business over the last few years continue to move us forward. There is no doubt that progress has not been helped by the trading conditions in which we operate in the UK, although our retail performance has been resilient, overall the wholesale business is strong and we continue to see good stability in the licence income.”
Looking ahead, the company said it remains on track to meet expectations for the full year but warned that retail conditions will remain challenging.
French Connection has also announced that it is extending its strategic review and formal sales process until the end of the year due to there being ongoing discussions with interested parties. It added: “We believe that further time is required to bring the process to a successful conclusion and expect the process to be concluded by the end of our current financial year.”
