Fashion

New Look losses narrow despite dropping sales


New Look has managed to narrow its losses in its half-year results
despite a drop in revenue in what was an “incredibly busy” year for the
British fashion retailer.

In the six months to September 28, the company’s statutory loss before
tax narrowed by 30.7 million pounds to 11.2 million pounds compared with a
loss of 41.9 million pounds in the same period last year.

Despite the narrowing losses, the company saw a drop in sales from 601.1
million pounds to 523.8 million pounds, while adjusted EBITDA was at 42.6
million pounds, down from 62.5 million pounds. Like-for-like sales in the
UK and Republic of Ireland were down 7.4 percent, which the company said
reflected “ongoing consumer uncertainty and seasonal volatility.”

In terms of operational changes, the retailer has focused on its product
offering, with ‘core’ and ‘broad appeal clothing categories representing 98
percent of its autumn/winter product mix compared to 75 percent ‘trend’ and
‘fashion’ last year, while it has reduced options by 25 percent in-store
and 32 percent online to “enhance customer experience.”

Nigel Oddy, chief operating officer described the first half as
“incredibly busy” for the retailer, as it focused on “strengthening the
operational foundations of the business.” He said: “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.”

Photo credit: New Look, Facebook



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