 French Connection expects sales to remain strong |
Fashion store chain French Connection has reported a good start to the autumn season after seeing first-half earnings jump by one third. And the company said its strong performance was expected to continue throughout the year.
Underlying pre-tax profits for the six months to late July were up 33% at �13.7m ($21.9m).
Like-for-like sales at its UK and European stores rose 3% in the first six weeks of its second half.
Takeover "unlikely"
Operations director Neil Williams said he expected like-for-like sales growth for the second-half to top the 3% generated at the beginning of the period.
"As the weather gets a little bit colder we think that the winter season, having started off well, will be very strong," he said.
But bid interest in the cash-rich company, long thought to be a favoured takeover target for private equity firms, had died down, Mr Williams said.
French Connection said it had opened five new stores and extended or refurbished a handful of others in the UK and Europe, helping drive total retail sales up by 26% to �53.4m.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 