Refreshing French Connection

While market debutant SuperGroup has reported a surge in sales and likely profits, another fashion retailer in a similar mould is engaged in a battle to restore profitability.

French Connection, which is expected to issue an interim management statement next week, has much in common with SuperGroup. Each is run by a proprietorial founder - Stephen Marks and Julian Dunkerton respectively - and each, French Connection in the past, SuperGroup now, is associated with trendy brands.

In March, French Connection reported a £24.9m full-year loss along with the results of a strategic review designed to take the business back into the black.

Marks, a mercurial character with an umbilical connection to the business he built, showed that he was ready to take radical action to improve performance. His tough-minded approach was illustrated by the decision to sell the Nicole Farhi business, to which he had close emotional links, and to shut most of his shops in the US.

Investors in SuperGroup would have borne in mind French Connection’s swings of fortune when they pondered whether or not to buy in at the time of the initial public offering.

But investors might also consider SuperGroup’s success when assessing French Connection. As has been seen many times before, fashion retailers that have hit problems have successfully come back with collections, brands and marketing that restored their reputations and coffers.

Next week will bring a chance to gauge how far French Connection is along its journey. General market conditions and uncertainty about factors such as the election may make it difficult to read the trends conclusively, so the mood music will be important.

But Marks’ past form shows he is not a man to be underestimated. The hope must be that he has it in chim to pull the equivalent of a Superdry out of the clothes bag.