N Brown registers 0.2 percent decline in Q1 revenue

Group revenue declined 0.2 percent and product revenue was down 1.6 percent. The company said that overall trading was in line with expectations. Total active customers were broadly flat year-on-year, with Simply Be, Jacamo and JD Williams brands recording growth in active customer, offset by a decline in traditional titles and Fifty Plus.

Commenting on the first quarter trading, Angela Spindler, CEO, said, “Overall trading in the quarter has been in line with our expectations and our guidance for the full year remains unchanged. Product sales have been satisfactory when viewed against the challenging market backdrop. Our systems transformation programme, Fit 4 the Future, remains on track in all respects.”

Brand segment review

Simply Be and Jacamo revenues were both up year-on-year, which the company said were driven by ongoing product improvements and new season campaigns. While the JD Williams brand saw double-digit growth, revenues for JD Williams as a whole were slightly down due to a weak performance from the Fifty Plus title. Overall, due to the impact of the Fifty Plus title, power brands product revenues were flat in the quarter.

Product revenues of the secondary brands, namely Fashion World, Figleaves, High and Mighty and Marisota, were marginally lower year-on-year. Within this, Fashion World was the strongest performer. Traditional segment having Julipa, Ambrose Wilson, Premier Man and House of Bath under its portfolio saw a mid-single-digit decline in product revenues.

Performance by product categories

By category, menswear achieved the strongest performance, with revenue up mid-single-digit. Ladieswear saw a low single-digit decline in revenue year-on-year against a challenging market backdrop. Footwear revenues declined by mid single-digit. Home and gift revenues were broadly flat versus Q1 last year.

Online traffic was up 11 percent year-on-year. Mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), N Brown said, now generate 69 percent of all traffic, up over 5ppts year-on-year. The company witnessed positive trading in the USA, with Q1 revenue up 25 percent year-on-year or 17 percent on a constant currency basis.

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