Simply Be and Jacamo owner hopes for a rebound after bumpy few months
Investors in online retailer N Brown will be looking for signs of recovery in its full year results this week after the firm paid out a hefty legal settlement and has struggled amid a broader slowdown in consumer spending.
N Brown, which owns brands such as Simply Be and Jacamo, reported a 7.6 per cent dip in revenues to £249.2m in the third quarter amid a slowdown in consumer spending amid the cost of living crisis.
It also handed £49.5m to Allianz insurance to settle a long-running dispute over its insurance products.
At the time, chief Steve Johnson warned that he expected to attract less customers over the next year due to a tough trading environment, describing the market as “soft”.
“This, together with the difficult trading environment in FY23, means we will commence FY24 with lower active customers year-on-year,” Johnson said.
But the Manchester-headquartered retailer did not follow up its October profit warning with another one in January.
“Johnson reaffirmed his faith that the firm could meet the analysts’ consensus profit forecast of £57.5 million,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.
Shares in N Brown, which will post its full year results on Tuesday, have inched up just over 6 per cent since the start of this year to 27p.
A number of rival fashion retailers have also struggled in recent months. Both, Asos and Boohoo have posted dwindling revenues since reopening after the pandemic, with the latter posting a £91m loss.