Fashion retailer French Connection has revealed a rise in its half-year profits and signalled an intention to step up its plans for overseas expansion.
Announcing a pretax profit of £700,000 in the six months to July 31 – up from £200,000 from the same period in 2010 – the company’s chief executive and chairman Stephen Marks confirmed French Connection is to open 16 stores across the Middle East, Asia and Russia over the next few months.
“With the business on a stronger footing, we are in a good position to expand operations internationally. We see great opportunities to grow revenues from both franchising and licensing,” he commented.
The chain has lost ground on rivals in recent years, but overall revenue was up by seven per cent at £102.8 million and like-for-like UK/European retail sales climbed by 4.6 per cent. However, French Connection acknowledged that the medium-term outlook for retailers remains challenging.
Last week, Next chief executive Lord Wolfson issued an upbeat assessment of the sector’s prospects, predicting that shoppers will be more willing to spend once inflationary pressures have eased.
