New Look, the fashion retailer, has seen increased sales both at home and abroad, but the loss made by its French business has pushed the business into the red.
The company is owned by Permira and Apax, the private equity groups, and it has reported a loss of £55m as it has had to written down assets on its Mim chain in France. The group said Mim had seen an improvement during the last two months, but it was still giving thought to selling the chain.
The retailer reported an increase in sales of 2.2% to the year ending March. Its online sales are continuing to increase, and is up by 64% for the past year compared to 46% during the previous year, The Guardian says.
The group has refitted its UK stores, revamped its website and developed apps for tablets and mobile phones. Its efforts to generate a buzz in social media circles has seen 2.9m Facebook likes, with 2.7m visitors to its website weekly.
The retailer is looking to open more UK stores and plans to open an additional 10 stores in China which will see a doubling of the current number of stores.
4 JUNE 2014, France
Beyonce's Flannels opens unique pop-up store in London
H&M is closing its flagship store in Beijing
Old Navy to close San Francisco flagship after 24 years
Journeys is leaving malls, closing 100 stores
Canada Goose opens three new stores in the U.S.
Intermarché plans to replace 180 Casino stores
IKEA will open new store formats 
Adidas gears up for the release of Yeezy merchandise 
Two Nordstrom stores in San Francisco set to close amid challenging retail landscape 
Skims unveils spectacular summer pop-up store in New York City 
Macy's shifts focus to opening smaller stores in shopping centers