The plus-size fashion retailer behind Jacamo, Simply Be and JD Williams suffered a shock profit warning today, sending shares slumping more than 15%.
N Brown chief executive Angela Spindler insisted the revelation that profits will fall below City expectations of £88 million was a one-off mainly due to a hangover from the unseasonably warm autumn weather, which hit the whole high street.
Spindler said plans for lower opening price points, more focus on web sales rather than catalogues, and attention on its three key brands and their ambassadors Kelly Brook, pictured, Lorraine Kelly and Andrew Flintoff, was the key to future success.
She said: “The strategy is still the right one. That [profit warning] is a consequence of clearance activity impacting margin in January and February.”
The company decided to try to shift all the excess stock from the autumn in time for the introduction of its spring/summer lines last month.
Spindler added: “You can manipulate sales by burying your discounted products, but we wanted to start clean.”
As a result of more discounted stock available, sales rose 3.6% in the 13 weeks to end of February, with volumes up 11% for the first time in several years.
It means N Brown’s sales were flat for the entire financial year, cancelling out a 2.2% fall last autumn.
Meanwhile, online fashion retailer Boohoo, which suffered its own profit warning this year, attempted to bounce back by revealing sales in the two months to the end of February increased by 24%.
