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More retail blues from Jacques Vert

Created:
11 July 2008
Written by:
Malar Velaigam

Jacques Vert did little to improve the mood on the high street as it revealed a precipitous slide in annual pre-tax profits, as expected after its April profit warning.

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While the troubled fashion retailer - which owns the Windsmoor, Planet and Precis brands - saw like-for-like sales growth of 0.5 per cent over the year, it said that trading in the last six weeks of 2008 had been poor. The misery continued into the 10 weeks since 26 April, too, with like-for-like, sales down 5.9 per cent as fearful consumers stayed at home.

More positive news was the disposal of its Sri Lankan subsidiary Bairdwear Interfashion in a bid to focus on its main markets in the UK, Canada and Ireland. The £0.4m sale, coupled with stronger cash generation, has allowed Jacques Vert to eliminate its debt. Management also implemented tighter control of working capital by reducing stock levels - they declined by 11 per cent over the year and are set to come down further.

House broker Seymour Pierce has downgraded forecasts and now expect 2009 EPS of 2p, climbing to 2.2p the year after.

JACQUES VERT (JQV)
ORD PRICE: 9.8p MARKET VALUE: £19m
TOUCH: 9.75-10p 12-MONTH HIGH: 24p LOW: 8.75p
DIVIDEND YIELD: na PE RATIO: 5.3
NET ASSET VALUE: 12p NET CASH: £2.5m

52 weeks to 26 April Turnover (£m) Pre-tax profit (£m) Earnings per share (p) Dividend per share (p)
2005 151 0.56 0.38 nil
2006 109 3.44 1.41 nil
2007 114 19.8 10.6 nil
2008 115 4.32 1.87 nil
% change +1 -78 -82 -

Click here for a guide to the terms used in IC results tables.

IC VIEW

FairlyPriced

Shares in Jacques Vert have halved in value over the last year, and despite the fact they now trade on just 5 times 2009 forecasts, the dreary retail outlook means they remain fairly priced.

Last IC view: Fairly priced, 9.25p, 30 April 2008.

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