Lingerie arm lifts profits for N Brown

By SCOTT REID
Published on 01/07/2012 02:03

CATALOGUE and online shopping firm N Brown is tipped to unveil some attractive figures this week as it benefits from its increasingly diverse portfolio.

News of solid progress at the group, which owns the Figleaves, High & Mighty, Jacamo, Marisota and Simply Be brands, could reignite talk of a possible takeover.

Retail giant Asda was recently linked with a potential offer for the Manchester-based company, although sources played down the market chatter.

Traders have said that N Brown would make an ideal buy for a major supermarket operator looking to expand its non-food offering.

Analysts are anticipating continued progress in recent weeks after the group saw its sales in the year to 3 March rise by 4.8 per cent to £753.2 million. Pre-tax profits were 2.5 per cent ahead at £96.9m.

While like-for-like sales growth eased in the first few weeks of its current financial year, the firm is likely to have benefited from a recent spate of high-street casualties, leading to a robust first quarter.

Its last set of results were boosted after its Figleaves lingerie arm posted the first profit in its 13-year history.

There was also a 50 per cent year-on-year surge in sales at Jacamo, which is aimed at larger than average 30-something men.

Menswear brand High & Mighty significantly reduced its losses, and the Simply Be brand for larger ladies expanded in the United States.

The success of these brands drove a 13 per cent increase in sales to customers aged between 30 and 50.

But sales to customers over 50 rose by just 1 per cent, as many of them have fixed incomes and were hit particularly badly by rising food and energy costs. However, in the long term, the ageing population is expected to benefit the group.

Singer Capital Markets analyst Matthew McEachran said: “Recent [results] were solid and the management have a good track record of delivery, with the business continuing to benefit from certain key trends – an ageing and ‘expanding’ population and a transactional shift to the internet.”