New Look narrows Q1 losses but revenues decline

For its first quarter, New Look Retail Holdings Limited said that the company managed to reduce statutory loss before tax by 12.8 million pounds (15.8 million dollars) to 2.7 million pounds (3.3 million dollars) following restructuring compared to loss of 15.5 million pounds in the same quarter last year. Total revenues, the company added, however declined to 258.3 million pounds (319.4 million dollars) compared to 300.6 million pounds last year and like-for-like sales were down 10.1 percent reflecting lower footfall due to highly unseasonable weather and ongoing consumer uncertainty.

Commenting on the trading update, Alistair McGeorge, the company’s Executive Chairman said in a statement: “A key focus during the first quarter was to conclude our comprehensive financial restructuring, which we successfully completed in May. I am pleased our recent trading shows that we have delivered positive LFL sales performance. I was delighted to welcome Nigel Oddy as Chief Operating Officer in April, in addition to four highly experienced board members. Furthermore, we now have a Chief Customer Officer in place and have more changes to come.”

The company’s core adjusted EBITDA was 23.5 million pounds (29 million dollars) compared to 33 million pounds in the first quarter of FY19. New Look carried out comprehensive restructuring on May 3, 2019 with long-term debt significantly reduced from 1,350 million pounds (1,670 million dollars) to 350 million pounds (433 million dollars) and addition of 150 million pounds of new long-term capital. For the 8 weeks ending August 24, 2019, the company’s like-for-like sales improved by 2.2 percent.

“Following a challenging first quarter, we are now starting to see improvements in Q2 reflecting the operational changes we are making as we continue to recover the broad appeal of our product,” added Nigel Oddy.

Picture:Facebook/New Look