Jane Norman Heads Fashion Profits League

Jane Norman has emerged as the clothing retailer with the best pre-tax profit margin in Britain. A survey by consultancy The Prospect Shop shows that for 2001/2002 the young fashion chain had a pre-tax profit margin of 22.4%.

This compares with designer brand and retailer Joseph's figure of 21.7 and is almost three times the industry average of 8.2 per cent outlined in the report.Brands and designers with their own retail businesses feature high on he list. Ted Baker is fourth with 15.2 per cent, while Paul Smith is fifth with 15.1 per cent.The report found some encouraging trends in the industry, notable that the average compound sales growth rate for 1999/2000 to 2001/2002 was 17 per cent, while profits grew faster at 27 per cent. The larger companies surveyed tended to underperform and were largely unable to equal average growth rates.