French Connection Posts Narrower H1 Pretax Loss

French Connection Group PLC

reported a narrower pretax loss for the first-half of the year. French Connection posted a pretax loss of 3.9 million pounds ($6.35 million) for the period, versus a year-ago pretax loss of GBP6.1 million. Its revenue fell 7% to GBP84.0 million in the period. French Connection's retail revenue fell 10.6% to £49.9 million, while wholesale revenue came in in line with previous year at £34.1 million. Gross margin widened to 47.4% from 47.3%. Total operating expenses declined 9.8% to £46.7 million, while underlying operating expenses dropped 2.4%. At 31 July 2014, French Connection had £19.4 million in cash. Stephen Marks, Chairman and Chief Executive said, "I'm pleased to report a further positive step forward as we rebuild value in our business. The initiatives we put in place to drive a turnaround in our trading continue to deliver an improvement in performance. Whilst costs will continue to be managed tightly, we are cautiously investing in growth opportunities, trialling new store formats and developing our international business.”