N Brown Q3 revenues up 4.1 percent

Group revenues at N Brown for the 18 week period to January 2, 2016 increased 4.1 percent, with LFL growth of 4.1 percent. Product revenues were up 4.3 percent and the company said, it is on track to meet full year expectations.

Commenting on the third quarter performance, Angela Spindler, CEO, N Brown said, "We are pleased with our performance in Q3, during which we saw clear evidence of the benefits of the way in which we are transforming the business. Simply Be and Jacamo continue to show strong growth, and the potential of these brands is significant. We are also very pleased with the double-digit revenue growth in the JD Williams brand, and we are excited about the further potential of the online 50-plus fashion market.”

Third quarter financial highlights

The company’s brands - JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo continued positive performance during the quarter. The active customer profile of these brands increased by 12 percent with the total active customer file growing by 1 percent.

The JD Williams group of titles overall saw marginally positive product revenue growth. As highlighted in the half year results, there remains a notable divergence in performance between the core JD Williams brand, which has undergone a comprehensive modernisation and is generating strong results, and the traditional brands Ambrose Wilson and Fifty Plus. The core JD Williams brand achieved double-digit revenue growth in the period, driven by the improved product offering, strong PR activity and our Autumn Winter digital-first marketing campaigns. The traditional brands Ambrose Wilson and Fifty Plus saw revenue declines of high single-digits.

Simply Be achieved low double-digit revenue growth year-on-year and the company sees long-term opportunity for the brand, both in the UK and globally. Jacamo also saw double-digit revenue growth.

At the category level, ladies wear saw moderate growth and menswear recorded mid-single-digit revenue growth year-on-year, driven by Jacamo. Homewares was the best performing category during the period, up high single-digit, driven by furniture, home textiles and beauty.

Online and retail sales results

Overall, online penetration increased 5ppts year-on-year to 66 percent, with total online sales up 13 percent. 75 percent of new customer demand was generated online during the period, up 7ppts. During the period mobile devices generated 68 percent of all traffic, up 10ppts year-on-year. Simply Be USA continued to perform well; and achieved 28 percent growth in turnover year-on-year, or 20 percent on a constant currency basis. The company would be in cautious expansion mode in the USA, ahead of the new international web platform going live in mid-2016.

While stores remain a small part of the group overall, their performance was disappointing, with sales flat on a LFL basis year-on-year due to weaker footfall.

Full year guidance

Product gross margin guidance range changed to -75bps to flat (from -25bps to +50bps), driven by seasonal mix. All other guidance remains unchanged from that provided at the half year results.