N Brown profit and revenue decline driven by ‘challenging online market conditions’

The fashion group reported a 5.3% drop in group revenue to £677.5m in the 53 weeks to March 4.

Adjusted profit before tax dropped 82.6% from £43m to £7.5m, while product revenue fell 6.9% to £433m.

Adjusted EBITDA declined 39.7% to £57m in line with the latest board and market expectations.

N Brown also reported “continued strategic progress” including the launch of its new mobile-first website for Simply Be and says it is “well positioned” to deliver strategic change with more investment to come in FY24. It will prioritise new websites for its brands Jacamo and JD Williams.

It expects to see continuing challenges due to inflation with a low consumer confidence to remain throughout FY24.

N Brown chief executive Steve Johnson said: “We have remained adaptable to the trading environment, which became more challenging during the year as inflation impacted both our customers and our cost base. Although volumes softened, we maintained a disciplined approach to trading, with a particular focus on upholding margin despite a promotional backdrop.

“We continued to make strategic progress despite these challenges, increasing investment during the year, and we successfully launched our new mobile-first website for Simply Be.

“I would like to thank every single one of our colleagues for their role in achieving this progress, through their commitment to serving our customers and supporting our vision of championing inclusion.

“We are expecting the weaker consumer confidence to continue weighing on our performance before we see a return to growth and are therefore keeping a tight control of costs.

“We remain confident in our strategy and are more focused than ever on the transformational priorities that will deliver the biggest benefits, including new websites for Jacamo and JD Williams, and the delivery of our new financial services platform.”