Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Apparel retailer French Connection said its annual results fell short of its expectations despite reporting narrower losses as revenue continued to fall amid a gloomy backdrop for retailers on the UK High Street.
Planned closure of non-contributing stores has continued with 11 stores and three outlets closed in the period For the financial year ended 31 January 2020, pre-tax losses narrowed to £7.3m from £8.6m as revenue fell 11.4% to £119.9m on-year.
The company reported an underlying loss of £2..9m compared with an underlying profit of £0.8m on-year.
'The performance this year has not been as anticipated and we are not being assisted by the continued difficult trading conditions in the UK and potential uncertainty due to the COVID-19 coronavirus,' said Stephen Marks, chairman and chief executive.
The decline in LFL sales in the UK and Europe of 2.5%, compared with a 6.8% on-year, reflected 'poor UK retail trading conditions on the High Street generally in the second half of the year,' the company said.
Looking, the company did not envisage that trading conditions improving.
'We believe the trading landscape in the UK is unlikely to improve in the short term and this has a potential impact on both the retail and wholesale businesses,' French Connection said.
At 8:06am: (LON:FCCN) French Connection Group PLC share price was 0p at 18.5p