New Look sales still down but EBITDA on the rise

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Dec 4, 2012

Just as New Look’s recovery plan is now operating full force, the British fashion chain published financial results for the first half of its fiscal year ended September 22. If sales are still not showing positive growth, the group seems to be satisfied with its efforts to reduce costs and increase margins. The company’s EBITDA was up 25% compared to the first half of last year (about 87 million pounds, or 107 million euros). The group also said it has repaid the equivalent of 91 million of its debt during this reporting period, which is estimated to about 1.3 billion euros total).

However, New Look is still in the red, sales not being enough to rectify the situation in the first half of the fiscal year. The group's turnover fell by 1.7% (approximately 876 million euros) and even 3.3% on a comparable basis. In the United Kingdom, where New Look has half of its 1,100 stores located in 16 countries, the decline in sales was 3.1% on a comparable basis.

For the months ahead, New Look will continue its efforts on reducing costs and profitability of its store network. Besides dozens of store closings, the recovery plan included the renovation of 26 stores during the first half-year. The company announced it will revamp another 120 by the end of the current fiscal year.