Losses widen at Kookaï as sales plummet

Pre-tax losses were £3.3m in the year, up from £3.1m the previous year. Sales at the retailer, which is owned as part of a joint venture by investor Amery Capital and French subsidiary Kookaï SA, fell by £4.5m in the UK to £10.4m.

The fall-off in sales came in the year when the business annualised its move to bring the brand in line with its French business in terms of product and positioning. UK managing director Matthieu Dietsch said at the time of the strategy change in November 2009 that price points had moved upwards to slightly below those of French Connection.

At the time, Dietsch also outlined plans to change the business’ concession-heavy strategy to include more retail openings. It opened a standalone store in St Christopher’s Place in London in 2009 and launched a transactional website.

By the end of the year ended August 2010, the business had four standalone UK stores and 36 concessions in department stores including House of Fraser and John Lewis.

In 2006, retail entrepreneur Maurice Helfgott’s Amery Capital formed a joint venture with Kookaï SA, a subsidiary of the Vivarte Group, to run Kookaï in the UK. The joint venture bought the business out of administration at the time.