The British e-commerce group N Brown Group Plc felt the adverse market conditions in the first half of the 2023/24 financial year. In an interim statement published on Thursday, the parent company of online fashion retailers JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo reported significant sales losses and red numbers.
In the 26 weeks before September 2nd, group sales amounted to 297.0 million British pounds (343.8 million euros), which corresponded to a decrease of 10.4 percent compared to the same period last year. In addition to the difficult macroeconomic environment, the unusual weather conditions in the spring and in July and August weighed on demand, the company said.
Despite extensive cost-cutting measures, the result also fell short of the previous year’s level. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for special effects fell by 37.3 percent to 17.5 million British pounds, but were at least within the expectations of management.
The bottom line was a reported net loss of 4.1 million British pounds (4.7 million euros), after the group had achieved a surplus of 7.2 million British pounds in the first half of the previous year.