New Look, the debt-laden fashion chain, has vowed to return to profitability this financial year after it plunged to a £55 million loss in 2011.
The retailer, which has more than 1100 stores in 16 countries, has repaid £74 million debt, slashed costs and improved profit margins by selling more clothing at full price over the past six months.
Alistair McGeorge, New Look’s chairman since April last year, said: “For the full year, we are expecting to make a small profit. The will to win in this organisation is a world away from where it was 18 months ago.”
But UK like-for-like sales fell 3.1% over the half-year to September 22. Over the next 18 months, McGeorge expects New Look — which sells clothing ranges from the celebrity Kelly Brook — to refinance its net debt of more than £1 billion.
