N Brown Group PLC on Thursday said it turned to a loss in the first half of its financial year, and the retailer expects ‘market conditions to remain soft’ going forward.

The Manchester-based clothing and footwear company said it swung to a pretax loss of £4.1 million in the half-year to September 2, from a profit of £7.2 million a year prior. Revenue fell 10% to £297.0 million from £331.5 million.

Chief Executive Steve Johnson said: ‘We expected external market conditions to remain soft and for the first half of FY24 to be particularly challenging. In response, we acted decisively to adapt to the trading environment and maintain real focus and discipline in areas which we can directly control.’

Looking ahead, N Brown expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be in line with market expectations, which it said is £44.7 million, about 22% lower compared to £57.3 million in financial 2023.

N Brown shares fell 4.4% to 19.13 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.

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