French Connection losses narrow following £29m takeover

The fashion retailer reported an underlying loss of £900,000 in the six months ending July 31, reducing the £12.2m loss it booked during the same period in 2020. It also marked an improvement in its pre-pandemic performance – it suffered a loss of £3.6m during the same period in 2019. 

French Connection said group revenue increased 68.2% to £40.2m in 2021. That figure remained 21.2% below pre-pandemic levels, however. The retailer attributed the decline to temporary store closures and a reduced retail portfolio – it permanently shuttered three stores during its first half.  

Those closures helped contribute to a £15.2m reduction in overheads during the period as French Connection seeks to shore up its balance sheet. 

The unveiling of its interim results comes after the retailer agreed terms on a £29m sale to MIP Holdings earlier this month.

French Connection chair and chief executive Stephen Marks, who will retire from the business following the acquisition, said: “I am pleased that the improvement in business we saw in the early part of the period has continued throughout the first half of the financial year. Wholesale in both the UK and the US has performed well, with a good outcome to the summer season.

“Over the last five years, French Connection has made significant progress in its plans to rationalise the size of its store portfolio and to return the group to profitability.”