New Look swings to loss of 10.4 mn pounds in H1

For the 26 weeks to September 23, 2017, revenues at New Look declined 4.5 percent to 686 million pounds (902 million dollars). New Look brand like-for-like sales also decreased 8.6 percent. The company said that UK like-for-like sales fell 8.4 percent, while the company-owned website sales dropped 7.6 percent. Third Party ecommerce sales however improved 17 percent.

Adjusted EBITDA for the period was 24.2 million pounds (31 million dollars) compared to 86.9 million pounds (114 million dollars) in the first half of FY17, which the company said was driven by challenging UK sales performance. Underlying operating loss was 10.4 million pounds (13.6 million dollars) compared to underlying operating profit of 59.3 million pounds (78 million dollars) last year. Loss after tax of was 72.7 million pounds against profit after tax 0.9 million pounds (1.1 million dollars) in H1 2017.

Alistair McGeorge appointed excutive chairman at New Look

The board of New Look also announced that Alistair McGeorge has been appointed as Executive Chairman of New Look with immediate effect. Danny Barrasso, formerly interim chief executive, has returned to his previous role of UK & Ireland Managing Director.

Commenting on the executive changes, John Gnodde, Non-Executive Director, said in a statement: "Having previously led New Look through a period of recovery from 2011, Alistair has invaluable experience and the requisite expertise to help get the business moving forward again. Whilst the second half of the year is likely to remain challenging, the company retains an adequate liquidity position."

"The immediate focus in this period of transition will be to deliver stability and get the business back to basics by reconnecting with the New Look customer and recovering our broad appeal. Today's results reflect another tough period of trading for the company amid a challenging retail environment on the UK high street. Whilst we're not anticipating a reversal in fortunes overnight, I am confident we will implement the necessary changes to get the company back on track,” added McGeorge.

Picture:Facebook/New Look