Ecommerce sales at troubled fashion retailer New Look have seen strong growth in Q1 of its latest financial year and helping pull the company to a £108m profit.
Online sales at the retailers were up 3.8% against the first quarter of 2020/21, and by 43.3% on the first quarter of 2019/20. Overall, revenues were down by 40.1% to £542.2m in the year, as a result of Covid-19-related store closures.
Adjusted EBITDA was £4.3m, compared with £132.2m in 2019/20. Net debt at the year-end end was £72.3m, against £443m the previous year, following a the completion of a debt restructuring in November 2020.
Back in 2019/20 the company reported a £430.7m loss and sued for a CVA in August 2020, converting all its 402 store leases to turnover based rents.
New Look CEO Nigel Oddy comments: “We have been delighted to welcome our customers back to our stores since reopening from April 2021, which, as expected, has driven strong sales growth as lower footfall has been offset by improved sales conversion rates.
He continues: “We are focused on driving profitability and are pleased by the full-price sales we are now generating in store and online, as customers react positively to our spring/summer ranges. When the weather became warmer, seasonal product sold strongly, particularly dresses and sandals.”
Oddy concludes: “Looking back at the 2020/21 financial year, we delivered a resilient performance, despite the challenges presented by Covid-19 and the restrictions that meant our entire store portfolio was open for only seven weeks in the full year. We are in a fundamentally stronger position following the successful recapitalisation and CVA.”
