N Brown product revenue drops despite 46.6% rise in full-year profits

N Brown Group has revealed a 1.8% decline in revenue to £715.7 million for the year ending 26 February 2022, following a 0.6% drop in total product revenue and a 4% decline in financial services revenue.

However, the online retailer posted adjusted pre-tax profit of £43.1 million, up 46.6% compared to last year’s £29.4 million. Product revenue from strategic brands JD Williams, Simply Be, Jacamo grew by 9.9%, driven by strong clothing and footwear performance.

Clothing and footwear mix increased from 59% of product revenue in the prior year to 66% in fiscal year 2022. Driven by the growth in gross profit, adjusted EBITDA increased by £10.1 million to £95.0 million and adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 1.7ppts to 13.3%.

N Brown added that its total active customers grew for the first time in four years by 4% to 2.9 million, whilst its net debt position has been reduced from £359.4 million to £301.1 million.

Looking ahead, N Brown remains confident that the continued revenue growth from strategic brands will support the managed decline in revenues from heritage brands and the delivery of 7% product revenue growth with a 13% EBITDA margin

Commenting on the company’s full year results, Steve Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at N Brown, said: "Our strategic brands returned to growth in the year with growing customer numbers. As we move forward, we are evolving our priorities to concentrate our growth focus on Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo, where we see the strongest market potential.

"In what has been another volatile period in the consumer environment, I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their continued commitment to serving customers, and their role in delivering a strong performance in the year. The work we have done means we are significantly better placed than we were before the pandemic and, although cautious in the short-term due to inflationary impacts and consumer behaviour, we remain confident that over the medium-term our strategy will support the delivery of 7% product revenue growth with a 13% EBITDA margin."