French Connection is the latest multichannel merchant to
release disappointing financials. The fashion retailer posted a
A 23 per cent decline in pretax profit, to £3.1 million for the
year ended 31st January, on a 2 per cent dip in turnover, to
£236.1 million, according to the BBC.
More economic doom and gloom from
The Guardian: Consumer confidence is at a low, according to
the British Retail Consortium, and like-for-like sales for the
year to date are up only 1.5 per cent from last year, below the
rate of inflation and January’s increase of 2.6 per cent. What’s
more, a survey from Manpower reveals that employers are planning
to cut back on new hires for the third quarter in a row.
Card-not-present (CNP) fraud involving UK cards increased 37
per cent during the past year, according to payment association
APACS and as reported by
Reuters.
On the bright side, technology and industrial supplies cataloguer
Systemax boasted a 19 per cent rise in annual revenue, to $2.8
billion, and a 54 per cent leap in annual net income, to $69.5
million. European sales, including those of its Misco
brand in the UK, rose 21 per cent.
Arcandor’s Primondo division has sold one of its
speciality titles, low-end apparel catalogue Mode & Preis
Versandhandels, to private equity firm Aurrelius,
Forbes reports. Primondo added that its 12 remaining brands,
which include Peter Hahn, Madeleine and Elegance,
have posted “double-digit growth since the beginning of the
year”.
The Telegraph asked a number of fashionistas about their
favourite fashion websites. Four of the trend-setters (designers
Lulu Guinness and Anya Hindmarch, LK Bennett founder Linda
Bennett, Harper’s Bazaar editor Lucy Yeomans) cited
Net-a-Porter.com. Among the others name-checked:
Adili.com, Natural Collection and eBay.
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