French Connection (FCCN) chairman and chief executive Stephen Marks admits last year's financial performance was disappointing following a "very poor first half". However, he's feeling more optimistic about the current financial year as the recovery seen in the latter stages of 2015 appears to have carried into the new year. Mr Marks says the reaction to new collections has been strong but admits the group still has a "considerable amount of work to do" to move back into profitability.
Last year group sales fell 8.7 per cent at constant currency reflecting store closures, a poor retail performance and a decline in North American wholesale revenue. UK and European like-for-like retail sales ended the year 6.4 per cent lower, although splitting the underlying performance into two parts illustrates the second-half recovery: first-half underlying sales fell 10.7 per cent while second-half sales fell 2.4 per cent. Online sales represented nearly a quarter of total retail sales, in line with FY2015.
Analysts at Numis expect losses of £3.1m for the year ending 31 January 2017, which equates to losses per share of 3.2p, compared with losses of £4.7m and 4.9p in FY2016.
| FRENCH CONNECTION (FCCN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 40p | MARKET VALUE: | £39m | |
| TOUCH: | 40-40.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 61p | LOW: 20p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 56p | NET CASH: | £14m | |
| Year to 31 Jan | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 215 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 1.6 |
| 2013 | 197 | -10.5 | -10.7 | nil |
| 2014 | 189 | -6.1 | -6.4 | nil |
| 2015 | 179 | -1.6 | -1.6 | nil |
| 2016 | 164 | -3.5 | -3.4 | nil |
| % change | -8 | - | - | - |
