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Shares in N Brown Group PLC jumped as it returned to profit heralding the success of its transformation plan. Shares in the Manchester-based clothing and footwear company leapt 27% to 18.96 pence each in London. They are still down 24% in the last 12 months. In the 52 weeks to March 2, N Brown reported a pretax profit of £5.3 million, swinging from a loss of £71.1 million a year prior. Adjusted pretax profit rose 77% to £13.3 million from £7.5 million. The improved profitability came despite an 11% drop in revenue to £600.9 million from £677.5 million a year ago. Product revenue fell 12% to £381.2 million from £433.3 million, while financial services revenue fell 10% to £219.7 million from £244.1 million. Comparative figures are for the 53 weeks to March 4, 2023. Chief Executive Steve Johnson said: ‘We have delivered against our strategic and financial objectives this year. We have kept to our transformation plans, despite the macro-economic backdrop, whilst building resilience through our strong balance sheet, and achieving adjusted [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] above market expectations.’ Adjusted Ebitda fell 17% to £47.6 million from £57.3 million. N Brown said the rate of product revenue decline has moderated at the start of financial 2025, with the first quarter declining by 6%. ‘This improvement is expected to continue as the year progresses, and for full year 2025 the group anticipates product revenue will return to a moderate level of growth, alongside a modest improvement in the rate of decline in Financial Services revenue,’ the company stated. Gross margin is forecast to be consistent with financial 2024. To support ‘sustainable growth,’ N Brown plans to scale financial 2025 marketing investment by around £10 million, funded by cost efficiencies. ‘The board has continued confidence that the investment in the group’s strategic transformation plan, its differentiated brands and a new credit proposition in development, leave it well positioned to deliver future sustainable growth,’ the company added. No dividend was declared, unchanged from the year before. ‘The board continues to keep its dividend policy under review and will evaluate the re-introduction of a dividend when transformational priorities and business performance allows,’ the company said. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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