New Look sales plunge in ‘challenging’ quarter

The fashion retailer’s group revenue fell 6.3% year-on-year in the 39 weeks to December 23, exacerbated by a 10.7% slump in UK like-for-like sales.

The retailer’s loss after tax stood at £123.5m.

New Look’s group like-for-likes declined 10.6% and its own website sales plummeted 15%.

By contrast, third-party ecommerce sales rose 21.9%.

Executive chairman Alastair McGeorge said: “As we expected, third-quarter trading remained challenging, with sales and margins impacted by the high level of discounts.

“Our immediate priority is to exit the current financial year without excess stock. By entering the 2019 financial year with clean stock levels we will be in a good position to deliver a strong full-price Spring/Summer offer.

“I am confident that we are now making the necessary changes to get the company back on track and we continue to have sufficient liquidity to deliver our plans. In particular, we are focusing on reducing costs, recovering the broad appeal of our product and reconnecting with our customers.

“We are already realigning our pricing to offer significantly better value, adding flexibility to our buying model, and improving our speed to market.

“Additionally, we are working hard to achieve a better alignment between ecommerce and stores. Taken together, this will help to drive future full-price sales.”

Last month, New Look was understood to be mulling a CVA in a bid to reduce its store estate by 10% in the wake of credit insurer Euler Hermes cutting its cover.