French Connection cuts losses on full price strategy

French Connection has managed to cut its losses as the fashion retailer scrapped its previous approach of selling plenty of garments at a discount and made more sales at full price.

The firm, whose recent advertising campaign is pictured, still suffered a £6.1 million pre-tax loss for the year to end of January, but this was down from a £10.5 million loss a year earlier.

Chief executive Stephen Marks also pointed out that the company actually made a slight profit in the second half of the year of £1.7 million. The retail side of the business, particularly in the UK and Europe, grew strongly but North American business suffered, both in retail and wholesale.

Online is also growing poorly, up just 8 per cent, against an industry average usually in double digits. Sales also fell from £197.3 million to £189.4 million as more stores were shut.

But Marks said there was “a positive reception to our spring range” and he was confident “we have the right strategy.” Shares dipped 3.5p — or 5.56 per cent — to 59.5p.