New Look posted narrowed losses during its half-year results following an “incredibly busy” year.
The fashion chain registered a statutory loss before tax improvement of £30.7m to £11.2m, compared with a loss of £41.9m in the same period the previous year.
However, sales fell to £523.8m during the 26 weeks to September 28 from £601.1m during the comparable period last year.
The fashion retailer’s UK and Ireland like-for-like sales decreased 7.4%, reflecting “ongoing customer uncertainty”.
New Look chief operating officer Nigel Oddy said: “The first half of this financial year has been incredibly busy for New Look as we focused on strengthening the operational foundations of the business.
“We have reviewed our entire product range, improved our lead times, enhanced the customer journey, revitalised the company’s values, and have begun to make the necessary changes to our leadership.
“As we continue to recover the broad appeal of our product, our offer is now much improved as we focus on buying into successful trends quickly. Importantly, we have started to invest in our leadership team and I am delighted that David Wertheim joined us in October.
“New Look’s localness – the breadth of our estate and the convenient locations of our stores – is a key differentiator that we will continue to capitalise on, and I am pleased that we are delivering record levels of click-and-collect orders in our stores.
“Following a tough first quarter, we delivered positive like-for-like sales throughout July and August, but September was impacted by the unseasonably warm weather, which affected the sector in general. Despite this, we kept good control of our cost base, and all is to play for as we enter peak trading.”
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