N Brown Group shores up bottom line amid slump in revenue

The owner of the Jacamo and Simply Be clothing brands has blamed macroeconomic challenges for the slump in revenue it reported in its full-year numbers.

N Brown Group, which also owns the fashion and lifestyle platform JD Williams, saw its revenue drop by 9.8 per cent to £601m in the 52 weeks to 2 March, while its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 12.5 per cent to £47.6m.

However, despite the revenue fall, the firm also shored up its bottom line to post a major hike in profit before tax, up from £4.9m in 2023 to £13.3m on an adjusted basis.

The results follow what has been a difficult few years for many retailers. The sector has battled to keep prices down amid inflationary pressures, and consumers have struggled to keep up spending in the cost-of-living crisis.

The clothing firm, a fifth of which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers, has doubled down on its focus on profit over growth at the start of this year, announcing a round of redundancies at its Manchester HQ in March.

But the firm’s boss was adamant it remained on the right course, pointing to a strong balance sheet, nearly £148m of accessible liquidity, and improved marketing spending thanks to its cost-efficiency programme.

It said it expected the tough trading environment to continue for the rest of the year, although the revenue decline has “moderated” since the start of the year.

To try and boost growth, the company said it had invested £10m to scale its marketing programmes and JD Williams had launched a new mobile-first website ahead of its projected peak trading season.

Steve Johnson, CEO of N Brown Group, 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 EBITDA above market expectations.”

The FTSE 250 firm decided against issuing a dividend.

Shares in the firm rose over 13 per cent in early trade.