Chief executive Alan White said: “On some sunny days, we were up 30 per cent and we broke every sales record we had.”
He said that the group would remain cautious in the second half, but was confident that its niche offering and older customer group would help it ride out the economic downturn.
Online sales continued to increase, now accounting for 31 per cent of total sales. According to White, this figure could be as high as 50 per cent by next year.
Investec analyst David Jeary said that N Brown remains in a strong position and any dips in share price are based on sector fears rather than the company’s own outlook. “While the sector is still out of favour, N Brown remains one of the best-managed businesses within it, in our view, and the recent fall in share price represents a good opportunity to increase weightings,” he said.
As forecast in Retail Week (February 21), White confirmed that N Brown had been testing the German market and hoped to launch there by next summer.
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