Jacques Vert swings to profit; resumes dividend

June 29 (Reuters) - British fashion retailer Jacques Vert Plc (JQV.L) swung to a full-year pretax profit on higher margins and resumed paying dividends, sending its shares up 33 percent.

Jacques Vert - Think Pink Collection S/S 2010

The company, whose brands include Jacques Vert, Windsmoor, Planet and Precis Petite, said its retail sales for the first nine weeks of the new financial year rose 3.9 percent, while like-for-like sales grew 1.5 percent.

Jacques Vert said it expected margins to come under pressure during the remainder of this financial year due to the recent weakness in sterling and increasing supplier costs.

For the 52 weeks ended April 24, the company posted a pretax profit of 5.1 million pounds ($7.70 million), compared with a loss of 2.9 million pounds last year. Retail sales grew 4 percent to 115.3 million pounds.

The company proposed a final dividend of 0.65 pence for the year.

Jacques Vert shares were up 33 percent at 18.25 pence at 0755 GMT on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6625 Pound) (Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)