Women’s Clothing Retailer Thrives Amidst High Street Struggles

  • Bonmarché reports a 38% increase in profit before tax to £8m
  • Revenue falls from £190m to £186m
  • Store like-for-like sales down 4.5%
  • Online sales up by 35%
  • Improvements attributed to strong online growth and cost control
  • Maintained flexibility of store estate aids in adapting to consumer preferences

Bonmarché, a women’s clothing retailer, has managed to increase its profit before tax by 38% to £8 million despite facing challenging trading conditions that have affected many high street stores. The company reported a drop in revenue from £190 million to £186 million but saw a surge in online sales by 35%. Despite store like-for-like sales falling by 4.5%, the retailer’s strong online growth and tight control of gross margin and costs helped it maintain its profitability. The company also credited its ability to adapt quickly to changing consumer preferences due to its flexible store estate. Bonmarché CEO, Helen Connolly, expressed confidence in the retailer’s future growth potential, stating that trading since the beginning of the new financial year has been stronger than H2 FY18 and is in line with board expectations.

Factuality Level: 8
Factuality Justification: The article provides accurate information about the company’s financial performance, including profit increase, revenue changes, and online sales growth. It also includes quotes from the CEO discussing their strategy and outlook for the future.
Noise Level: 4
Noise Justification: The article provides relevant information about the company’s financial performance and strategies, but it could benefit from more in-depth analysis of the factors contributing to the increase in profit before tax and a comparison with other retailers in the market.
Financial Relevance: Yes
Financial Markets Impacted: Bonmarché’s stock price and other retailers in the same industry
Financial Rating Justification: The article discusses financial results of a retail company, Bonmarché, and its impact on the market due to challenging trading conditions and changes in consumer shopping preferences.
Presence Of Extreme Event: No
Nature Of Extreme Event: No
Impact Rating Of The Extreme Event: No
Extreme Rating Justification: No extreme event mentioned in the article

Reported publicly: www.retailsector.co.uk