N Brown Group PLC (LON:BWNG) shares rose as the firm reported growth in revenue and profits, despite a "challenging market backdrop" and adverse weather conditions.
For the 52 weeks to 3 March 2018, the fashion retailer reported 3.9% increase in revenue to £922.2mln from £887.7mln last year. Adjusted trading profit before tax rose 1.3% to £81.6mln from £80.6mln a year ago.
READ: Former Tesco UK boss Matt Davies to join N Brown as chairman
N Brown said out of its three "power brands", Simply Be continues to be the standout with revenue up 16.3%, while Jacomo revenue rose 5.1% and JD Williams was up 3.2% despite the impact of a reduced conversion rate for the recently migrated fifty-plus customer group.
The plus-size clothing specialist proposed a full year dividend in line with last year's 14.23p.
Angela Spindler, chief executive, said: “Our strategy continues to deliver results, with market share gains in the UK, USA revenue up 21% in the second half, new partnerships underway and almost three quarters of our revenues now coming online.”
She added: “March was a challenging month for fashion retailer, however, trade is improving through April, and at this early stage in the new financial year our overall expectations are unchanged.”
In morning trading, company’s shares jumped 6.5% to 206.6p.