Moss Bros profits on the slide
Menswear retailer Moss Bros showed the impact of an "unusually difficult year" after warning it faced a sharp fall in annual trading profits.
The disappointment came after business deteriorated in the second half to leave like-for-like sales 1.4 per cent lower in the 49 weeks to January 6.
While measures were taken to improve margins, Moss said the performance would leave trading profits "materially lower".
Bottom-line profits will also be adrift, even after including £1.7 million of profits from the planned sale of a number of leases.
Last year Moss, with ten Midlands sites, reported a 16 per cent hike in pretax profits before one-off restructuring costs to £6.7 million, due to better sourcing and product choice.
In October, the group posted half-year pretax profits of £800,000, compared with £1.7 million a year earlier after the Moss arm saw like-for-like revenues fall for the
first time in four years. It blamed the downturn on a disappointing response to spring and summer casualwear.
Chief executive Philip Mountford pledged "vigouorus action" and said he would take direct responsibility.
The group has 118 Moss stores, but said recently it had the potential to operate from an estate of up to 200. It also owns 18 shops under the Cecil Gee brand and 13 Hugo Boss outlets.
Moss said: "Despite an unusually difficult year the management remains confident."
Shares closed down 1.25p at 74p.
