Shares in AIM 100 fashion retailer Mulberry Group PLC (LON:MUL) slid in early trading Wednesday after the collapse of House of Fraser hit its bottom line in the first half.
The group reported a pre-tax loss of £8.2mln for the period, wider than the £600,000 loss reported a year ago, that was mainly attributed to a £2.1mln one-off cost from the collapse of the department store chain in addition to £2.5mln related to the brand’s launch in Korea.
READ: Mulberry shares plunge as it takes £3mln hit from administration of House of Fraser
Revenues for the period were also down year-on-year, falling 8% to £68.3mln, with UK retail sales dropping 11% to £40.4mln.
One of the upsides in the results were the group’s global digital retail sales, which rose 5% to represent 17% of total sales.
The outlook for the second half was looking similarly grim, with like-for-like sales in the UK down 7% in the 6 weeks to 3 November, however, the group said it expected an underlying pre-tax profit for the full year excluding one-off costs.
Thierry Andretta, Mulberry’s chief executive, said that the firm had also signed a concession agreement with John Lewis & Partners, which had previously been wholesale.
He added that the firm was “well-positioned” for the Christmas trading period which would determine its full-year results.
In August, Mulberry’s shares plunged over 25% after it revealed that it would take a £3mln hit from the collapse of House of Fraser, in which it operated 21 concessions, earlier in the year.
The department store was bought from administrators by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct for £90mln in cash.
Shares were down 4.8% at 296p.