N Brown posts decline in revenue and profit
N Brown, the owner of JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo, has posted declines in full year revenue and profit following a “challenging” trading environment.
In the 53 weeks to 4 March 2023, group revenue fell by 5.3% to £677.5 million while adjusted pre-tax profit dropped to £7.5 million from £43.1 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile adjusted EBITDA declined by 39.7% to £57.3 million,
Steve Johnson, N Brown chief executive, said: “We are expecting the weaker consumer confidence to continue weighing on our performance before we see a return to growth and are therefore keeping a tight control of costs. We remain confident in our strategy and are more focused than ever on the transformational priorities which will deliver the biggest benefits, including new websites for Jacamo and JD Williams, and the delivery of our new financial services platform.”
During the period N Brown strengthened its board with the appointment of Meg Lustman as a non-executive director and Dominic Appleton as chief financial officer.
While the company continues to expect a high inflationary environment and low consumer confidence to remain throughout the new financial year, it currently anticipates that full year product revenue will decline at a slightly improved rate to that seen in the previous 12 months.
Johnson added: “We are expecting the weaker consumer confidence to continue weighing on our performance before we see a return to growth and are therefore keeping a tight control of costs. We remain confident in our strategy and are more focused than ever on the transformational priorities which will deliver the biggest benefits, including new websites for Jacamo and JD Williams, and the delivery of our new financial services platform.”
