New Look posts 5.4% FY revenue increase, strong results

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Jun 7, 2016

New Look, the British high street fashion brand, saw revenue increase by 5.4% to £1.5bn in the year to March 26, 2016 and said continued delivery of its strategy is reflected in the "strong results."

New Look's brand like-for-like sales were up 3.6% and UK like-for-like sales rose 3.4%. New Look's website also did well, with sales up 27.9% year-on-year. Third-party ecommerce sales were up 41.8%.

New Look posted an increase in adjusted EBITDA, which was up 7% to £227.2m. Underlying operating profit also rose, up 14% to £174.7m. Profit before tax increased 16.8% to £59.1m, but the company had non-recurring exceptional transaction costs of £94m, relating to the Brait acquisition and bond refinancing, resulting in a statutory loss before tax of £34.9m.

The retailer said it continues to make progress across all its strategic initiatives: Brand, Multichannel, International Expansion, Product Development and Menswear. New Look now has eight standalone menswear stores and said all are trading well. The retailer is also reporting continued success in China, where it is seeing positive like-for-like sales.

New Look is also continuing its concept refurbishment programme and making further improvements to its website and mobile app. The brand will upgrade its international web platforms this summer.

Anders Kristiansen, Chief Executive Officer, said: “These are good results during what has been a milestone year for the business. With the support of our new owners Brait, we have made continued progress against our strategic initiatives as we develop New Look into a truly global brand. In particular, the increase in our like-for-like sales reflects the strength of our multichannel proposition. Across all our channels-in-store, online or via click-and-collect - we are ensuring that shopping with New Look is as seamless and convenient as possible.“

"Elsewhere, the rollout of New Look Menswear is progressing well. Our product range has been strengthened and we are delighted with the look and feel of our new menswear stores and we have 20 more planned for this year. In China too, we have seen strong local reaction to our affordable, fast-fashion offer. We plan to open a further 50 stores in China during the coming year. Since the year end, we’ve opened 7 more stores already , taking us to 92 altogether in this market."