British fashion chain New Look had a disappointing quarter, with a 4 % turnover drop. Its adjusted EBITDA fared much worse, with a 35 % drop.
Hard times in the United Kingdom
New Look’s turnover dropped 4.4 % to 338.7 million pounds (375 million euro) in this first quarter. It mainly struggled in the United Kingdom, where its like-for-like turnover plummeted 7.5 %. The New Look brand suffered an 8.2 % like-for-like turnover drop and its online web shop sales fell 0.6 %. On the other hand, its sales on other web shops did grow by 15.7 %.
Those weak results had their impact on the company’s profit: its adjusted EBITDA dropped 37.3 % to 27.2 million pounds (30 million euro), on top of a 15.2 million pound (16.7 million euro) net loss. Only last year, it had a 5.8 million pound (6.4 million euro) profit.
“As expected, the British market is still in turmoil, with a disappointing quarter as a result”, CEO Anders Kristiansen said. New Look trialed a new store formula in the United Kingdom and the first signs are “encouraging”, Kristiansen claimed. It is also continuing its Chinese expansion, where it currently has 127 stores already.
