New Look strategy proves fruitful as full-year profits increase

• New Look profits positive with adjusted 4% increase in EBITDA
• UK like-for-likes up 5%, as the retailer continues to open new UK stores
• 28% of online orders collected in store, and 19% of these go on to spend more money

The retailer reported a 4% increase in adjusted EBITDA to £212.4m, while underlying operating profit rose 8.7% to £153.2m.

Profit before tax more than doubled from £20.7m in 2014 to £50.6m in 2015 and revenue increased 3.4% to £1.4bn.

New Look also reported that UK like-for-like sales were up 5% as well as a 4% increase in total brand like-for-like sales for its 52 weeks ending March 28, 2015. The retailer refurbished 291 stores and opened a further 37 over the year.

Multichannel

New Look stated that 28% of its online orders are now picked up in store through its click-and-collect offering, and 19% of these customers then go on to make further purchases in store. Ecommerce sales increased 34%.

Mobile orders surged 115%, with mobile accounting for 45% of all online visits, and the retailer is also now trading with 11 third-party partners including Asos and Zalando.

Chief executive Anders Kristiansen said:“These strong results demonstrate a year of delivery against our strategy. With the support of our new owner Brait, this is a hugely exciting time for New Look, as we continue to focus on our strategic initiatives of brand, multichannel, international expansion, product development and menswear.

“In particular, our considerable high street presence has left us well-placed to capitalise on the growing demand for click-and-collect, with over a quarter of online purchases now collected in store,” he added.

Menswear

The retailer also continued its focus on menswear with the hire of chief operating officer at H&M Christopher Englinde who will join New Look as global director of menswear.

International

The retailer reported strong performance from its first year of trading in China, with 19 stores trading at the end of the year. Since March New Look has opened a further 11 in April and May, with 30 stores in total and plans for 70 by March 2016. The retailer also opened new stores in France, Poland and Germany over the year.

Kristiansen said New Look’s spring/summer collections are being well received and the retailer is pleased with its early summer trading.

Last month, New Look was sold to South African investment group Brait in a deal that valued the retailer at £1.9bn. As part of the acquisition Brait takes a 90% stake in New Look for about £780m. The remaining 10% has been acquired by the Singh family interests and the current management. Tom Singh founded New Look in 1969.