Biba becomes House of Fraser’s most successful own-brand launch to date

The department store said that the successful relaunch of the brand, which it bought in November, meant it had become the department store group’s biggest womenswear label.

Chief executive John King added that in the 10 days since Biba launched in stores and online at Mybiba.com on September 9, the brand netted £500,000.

Own brands are key to House of Fraser’s strategy and the department store wants its own brands, which include Linea, Episode and Therapy, to account for between 30% and 40% of the sales mix within three years, compared with 11% now.

Sales of own brands - called house brands at House of Fraser -climbed 62% in the 26 weeks to July 31, when the group’s gross transaction value rose 5.5% to £480.6m. EBITDA rose 22% to £13m. Like-for-likes advanced 8.4% in the period and in the first seven weeks of the second half improved to 10%.

King said: “We are very encouraged by the strong demand for our house brands and particularly pleased with the launch of Biba.”

House of Fraser, which was taken private in 2006, reported that online sales had rocketed 150% in the first half and that debt levels had been cut.

In the UK it is searching for sites for smaller 60,000 sq ft stores, both in and out of town.