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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Fashion group N Brown blames 'poor early spring weather and low consumer confidence' for continuing sales fall


Fashion group N Brown has blamed "poor early spring weather and low consumer confidence" for its continued fall in revenue.

The Manchester-headquartered company has posted a revenue of £148.7m for the first quarter of its financial year, the 13 weeks to June 3, 2023. That total is down almost 10% compared to the same period in 2022.

However, N Brown added that the impact on its revenue has been partially offset by higher average item values, and "we saw an improving product revenue trend across the quarter".

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In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, N Brown said: "The progress in executing the Group's strategy has continued, including investment in the new mobile-first website for Jacamo, which follows the launch of the new website for Simply Be in FY23.

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"As part of a rebalancing of media investment across the Group towards driving brand awareness and performance, Jacamo has also launched a new partnership with LADbible to create engaging video content and wider campaigns focused on passions and skills, with every featured look shoppable at Jacamo online."

It added: "We remain confident in the strategic direction of the business and in the benefits of the ongoing investment in our digital transformation, with a focus on delivering sustainable profitable growth."

The update comes after N Brown issued a warning after revealing it made pre-tax losses of over £70m during its latest financial year.

The business posted statutory losses of £71.1m for the 12 months to March 4, 2023, compared to a profit of £19.2m in the prior year.

N Brown's revenue also fell from £715.7m to £677.5m over the same period.

In January, N Brown revealed it was to pay nearly £50m to settle a claim from Allianz Insurance.

The dispute related to "significant amounts of redress" paid to customers by JD Williams and the insurer "in respect of certain historic insurance products", including payment protection insurance.

Chief executive Steve Johnson said: "We have started the year with an elevated focus on the transformational priorities which will deliver the biggest benefits, including new mobile-first websites for Jacamo and JD Williams, and the delivery of our new financial services platform.

"We are pleased with the progress we are making including moving towards the full roll-out to customers of the new Jacamo website.

"As flagged in our FY23 preliminary results, we expect weak consumer confidence to continue through FY24 and are therefore taking a disciplined approach to managing costs and driving margin improvements whilst we invest in the business for medium-term growth.

"We remain confident in the strategy, and expect to continue to deliver progress across each of our strategic pillars this year."

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