Moss Bros profit, revenue rise despite tough conditions
Moss Bros reported a rise in full-year profit as revenue grew and the menswear retailer lifted its dividend despite "tough" market conditions.
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In the period from 31 January 2016 to 28 January 2017, pre-tax profit was up 20.3% to £7.1m, as total group revenue increased 5.7% on the previous year to £127.9m.
Group like-for-like sales in the period rose 5.3% to £131.5m, with LFL retail sales up 6% and LFL hire sales, which represent nearly 14% of sales, up 1.5%. LFL sales growth slowed from the previous year, when retail sales rose 7.6% and hire sales grew 11.7%.
Moss Bros proposed a final dividend of 3.98p per share, giving a total dividend for the year of 5.89p, up 6.1% on the year before.
In the first seven weeks of the new financial year, retail LFL sales including VAT increased 4.3%.
However, the company said the later start to Easter temporarily delayed some hire order collections by about three weeks and related revenue, with hire orders booked for collection currently down 1% on the year before.
Chief executive officer Brian Brick said: "We are very pleased with the performance of Moss Bros, as we made good progress towards the achievement of our strategic goals. The modernisation of the store portfolio is nearing completion and continues to achieve anticipated returns.
"We have made a good start to the implementation of our omni-channel shopping proposition and will ensure that the appropriate investments are made in both our systems and our people during 2017 and beyond, to leverage the benefits of this important area. We continue to add to the capabilities of the management team and we are well placed to accelerate our growth, in spite of continuing tough market conditions and the ongoing headwinds which we face as a result of increasing input costs in many areas."
At 1140 BST, the shares were up 0.4% to 100.42p.