Rights at .60p to .80p a share by my calculation, then watch the price dive to meet it. Still a good shorting opportunity at just under 2. The companies image and product lines are washed up. Those tills just are not ringing.

French dis-Connection - MoneyAM


French Connection slumped to a pretax loss of 17.4m in the year ended January 31st 2009.

Turnover for the period rose from 236.1m to 248m and the firm had net funds of 37.1m at year end.

The group made a loss of 17.3p per share, compared to a profit of 1.5p the previous year.

A dividend of 1.7p will be paid, compared to the prior year's 5p per share.

Stephen Marks, Chairman, commented: 'The results for last year are disappointing and, to a large extent, are a reflection of the impact on fashion markets of the down-turn in the major world economies and in particular the US market. Behind the gloomy headlines however there are some encouraging elements in our performance.'

'We have continued to see improvements in our core business with UK retail like-for-like sales ahead by 2% over the year and continued strong growth in sales of French Connection ladies' wear. This reflects the strength of our design and the profile of the brand and we continue to work hard to ensure that we can build on these strengths. At the same time we are working to address the significant challenges caused by the market conditions through reducing costs and improving efficiency. These changes will help to mitigate the impact on the business of any further decline in the market.'

'Our balance sheet remains strong with net funds of 37.1m at the end of the year. We are therefore able to focus on ensuring that our products and operations are as strong as they can be and appropriately structured to deal with the decline in our markets. We will continue to focus on creating great product but we are preparing for another difficult year.'