French Connection Posts Loss

British fashion group French Connection (London) announced it's closing more underperforming stores after it shuts down its North European retail business. In the first half of the year, the retailer closed nine stores.

The group, with its controversial branding label “fcuk,” reported a pretax loss of $21.06 million for the six months ended in July. Same-store sales for its U.K./Europe retail division rose 2 percent during the period, while profits fell 50.8 percent from 51.8 percent a year ago. North American comparable sales dropped 3 percent and margins were 6.5 percent lower due to increased promotions.

“Following on from the second half of last year, our business continues to be severely affected by difficult retail environments in all of our markets around the world,” says chairman Stephen Marks. “In addition to the underlying trading issues we have faced over recent periods, this has had a severe impact on our financial performance during the first six months of the year. Both turnover and gross margin have been weak and although we have made substantial savings in operating expenses, the trading result has declined significantly compared with last year.”

French Connection operates in over 25 countries, with more than 1500 outlets worldwide, including 26 stores in the U.S.