Interim Results

Brown (N.) Group PLC 16 October 2001 16 October 2001 Interim Results Announcement 26 weeks to 1 September 2001 N Brown Group plc, the Manchester based direct catalogue home shopping company, today announces its interim results for the 26 weeks to 1 September 2001. The group continues to deliver a strong performance in a highly competitive retail market. Turnover growth in the core home shopping division was ahead of the High Street and distance shopping sectors, reflecting increased customer spending and retention. Highlights of the results include: * Turnover £219.3m (2000 : £185.9m) up 18.0% * Operating profit £28.0m (2000 : £24.7m) up 13.0% * Profit before tax £25.3m (2000 : £22.7m) up 11.5% * Earnings per share 6.28p (2000 : 5.55p) up 13.2% * Interim dividend per share 1.65p (2000 : 1.45p) up 13.8% Sir David Alliance CBE, Chairman, said: 'I am delighted to report another strong performance for the six months to 1 September 2001, with profit before tax up by 11.5% and turnover up by 18.0%. It is particularly pleasing that our core home shopping business has performed well with sales and operating profits both up by 16%.' 'Sales of household and electrical goods have grown by 31% to £54m, now representing 26% of home shopping turnover. Given the size of this product category in the marketplace we believe there is considerable growth potential for us in sales of these goods in the future.' 'Zendor has continued to invest to enable it to offer quality end-to-end fulfilment and consultancy services. It is developing well and has entered into long-term arrangements with several large clients. With an encouraging flow of new prospects into the business, we believe that it will make an early move into profit.' 'The second half has begun well and, after making an allowance for the negative effect of last year's petrol shortages, turnover for the first six weeks is up by 12%. Whilst it is too early to assess whether the present uncertainty in world markets will have any impact on our business, I am confident in the ability of our management teams to respond positively to market conditions and I remain cautiously optimistic for the Group's full year results.' For further information please contact: N Brown Group plc Sir David Alliance CBE, On the day: 020 7457 2345 Chairman Jim Martin, Chief Executive Thereafter: 0161 236 8256 Tim Kowalski, Finance Director Gavin Anderson & Company Neil Garnett/Charlotte Stone 020 7457 2345 Websites: www.nbrown.co.uk www.zendor.com www.eunite.co.uk CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT I am delighted to report another strong performance for the six months to 1 September 2001, with profit before tax up by 11.5% to £25.3m on turnover 18.0% higher at £219.3m. Earnings per share rose 13.2% to 6.28p and the board has recommended a 13.8% increase in the interim dividend to 1.65p per share. Most encouragingly, the core home shopping division performed particularly well, with both sales and operating profit up 16%. Home Shopping This division has handsomely outperformed both the High Street and distance shopping sectors of the retail market with a 16% increase in turnover to £ 214m, matched by a similar increase in operating profit to £28m. Most of this increase in turnover has come from our longer established customers, who have grown in number by 6% to just under 2 million with spending ahead by 9%. An increased level of marketing investment has been directed at these customers, offering them a wider range of products, particularly household and electrical goods, which has contributed to the impressive rise in their average spending. Sales of womenswear, which continues to be the major part of our product offer, increased by 11% to £120m and now represents 56% of home shopping turnover. In a reversal of last year's performance, turnover in menswear has increased by 17% to £18m and footwear is ahead by 9% to £19m. The growth in sales of household and electrical goods has continued to justify the concentration we have placed on this area of our business, with sales growing by 31% to £54m, representing 26% of turnover against 23% a year ago. Product ranges have been continually enhanced and customers are being offered more flexible credit propositions. Given the overall size of this product category in the marketplace, we believe there is considerable growth potential for us in sales of these goods in the future. We have a wide portfolio of catalogues directed at discrete groups of customers. The largest of these, aged between 40 and 65 years, increased its sales by 11% to £145m, now representing 68% of home shopping turnover. Consumers in this age category are growing in number and affluence and we are well positioned to benefit from this demographic trend. Additionally, we recognise the opportunity provided by younger consumers aged between 30 and 45 years and we are delighted that sales to this group increased by 30% to £48m. This rise was assisted by the successful launch of our 'Simply Be' catalogue, which is aimed at the younger, fuller figured woman. Our third group of catalogues, directed at those customers in retirement, increased sales by 10% to £13m. House of Stirling, our door-to-door sales operation, has successfully completed a period of consolidation and performed well with sales up by 31% to £5m. Sales through our internet sites reached £5m in the period, a tenfold increase since last year and, with a current annualised rate of £12m, we have confidence in the growth potential of this channel. These sales, which have the benefit of reduced transactional costs, came from a wide range of customers who were generally younger and higher spending. The sustainable competitive advantages that we have in our home shopping business will continue to be based on a highly targeted and cost effective customer contact strategy, a detailed knowledge of product trends and range architecture and a culture of responding rapidly to changes in market conditions and consumer trends. Fulfilment Our fulfilment division consists of Zendor, the end-to-end fulfilment solutions company which largely uses the facilities of N Brown, and the recently acquired Eunite, a leading provider of multi-channel e-commerce services. Eunite has been affected by the downturn in e-commerce and has made an operating loss of £0.9m. We have implemented steps to reduce costs and examine areas for new sales opportunities whilst at the same time augmenting the management team. We still anticipate a small loss in the second half, but remain confident about the long-term future of Eunite as a complementary business to Zendor. Zendor has continued to invest in its people for the future in order to offer quality end-to-end fulfilment and consultancy services to third parties. It is developing well and has entered into long-term arrangements with several large clients whose expectations of their own home shopping sales, to be serviced through Zendor, amount to £38m in their first year of operation. In line with expectations, Zendor made a small operating loss of £0.3m in the period but, with an encouraging flow of new prospects into the business, we believe that it will make an early move into profit. Financial Services First Financial, our financial services division, increased its operating profit by 11% to £0.9m. Acting as a commission based intermediary, this division offers a variety of financial products, such as life assurance, personal finance and house and contents insurance, sourced from reputable financial organisations. In addition, acting as principal lender, First Financial has recently started to provide unsecured personal loans directly to our customers. We are aware of the need to lend responsibly and, to ensure this, the personal circumstances of applicants are carefully considered by our dedicated financial services team, which has been strengthened with experienced personnel drawn from the consumer credit industry. Balance Sheet Net assets increased by 14% to £209m and stocks were up by 5% to £37m. Capital expenditure was broadly similar to last year and the net cash outflow before financing decreased from £15m to £9m. Gearing rose from 34% to 41% due mainly to an increase in interest bearing home shopping debtors, up by 19% to £231m, as a result of customers taking advantage of one or more of our popular credit propositions. Prospects The continued success of the Group, against a highly competitive retail background, owes much to our declared strategy of aligning new initiatives to our core skills in home shopping. We believe that the direct distance shopping marketplace, in which we operate, is set for a sustained period of long-term growth and we are well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. The second half has begun well, with turnover for the first six weeks up by 12%, after making an allowance for the negative effect of last year's petrol shortages. It is too early to assess whether the present uncertainty in world markets will have any impact on our business. However, I am confident in the ability of our management teams to respond positively to market conditions and I remain cautiously optimistic for the Group's full year results. On behalf of the shareholders, I would like to thank all of our staff for their unstinting efforts in achieving such a strong set of results. Sir David Alliance, CBE 16 October 2001 N Brown Group plc - Interim Results GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT (Unaudited) 26 weeks to 26 weeks to 53 weeks to 1 Sept 2001 26 Aug 2000 3 Mar 2001 £'000 £'000 £'000 Note Turnover 1 219,331 185,938 400,492 Operating profit 2 27,964 24,748 57,154 Share of associates' operating (loss) profit - (141 ) 253 Loss on disposal of associated undertaking (28 ) - - Income from listed investments 22 22 44 Interest payable and (2,681 ) (1,967 ) (4,398 ) similar charges Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 25,277 22,662 53,053 Taxation on profit on 5 (7,508 ) (6,731 ) (15,332 ) ordinary activities Profit on ordinary activities after taxation 17,769 15,931 37,721 Equity minority interests 499 166 427 Profit for the financial period 18,268 16,097 38,148 Dividends 6 (4,808 ) (4,214 ) (15,135 ) Retained profit 13,460 11,883 23,013 Earnings per share 4 6.28 p 5.55 p 13.14 p Diluted earnings per share 4 6.24 p 5.50 p 13.04 p Dividends per share 6 1.65 p 1.45 p 5.20 p N Brown Group plc - Interim Results GROUP BALANCE SHEET - (Unaudited) At At At 1 Sept 2001 26 Aug 2000 3 March 2001 £'000 £'000 £'000 restated restated Fixed assets Intangible assets 9,043 9,370 9,307 Tangible assets 75,735 65,920 70,826 Investments 3,078 3,431 3,441 87,856 78,721 83,574 Current assets Stocks 37,214 35,518 37,814 Debtors 259,678 210,648 244,860 Cash at bank and in hand 6,322 2,186 3,710 303,214 248,352 286,384 Creditors Amounts falling due within one (92,839 ) (79,257 ) (91,146 ) year Net current assets 210,375 169,095 195,238 Total assets less current liabilities 298,231 247,816 278,812 Creditors Amounts falling due after more (84,167) (59,719) ) than one year (78,193 Provisions for liabilities and (5,541) (5,069 ) (5,541 ) charges Net assets 208,523 183,028 195,078 Capital and reserves Called-up share capital 29,308 29,278 29,298 Share premium account 5,168 4,335 4,919 Revaluation reserve 1,740 1,661 1,576 Profit and loss account 173,342 148,035 159,821 Equity shareholders' funds 209,558 183,309 195,614 Equity minority interests (1,035 ) (281 ) (536 ) Capital employed 208,523 183,028 195,078 Gearing 41% 34% 40% N Brown Group plc - Interim Results GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT (Unaudited) 26 weeks to 26 weeks to 53 weeks to 1 Sept 2001 26 Aug 2000 3 Mar 2001 £'000 £'000 £'000 Operating activities Operating profit 27,964 24,748 57,154 Decrease (increase) in stocks 600 (39 ) (2,335 ) Increase in debtors (16,856 ) (6,867 ) (40,983 ) Increase (decrease) in creditors 44 (9,997 ) (1,690 ) Depreciation (net of profit (loss) on disposals) 6,264 5,662 11,793 Goodwill amortisation 264 90 349 Net cash inflow from operating activities 18,280 13,597 24,288 Returns on investments and (2,634 ) (2,077 ) (4,833 ) servicing of finance Taxation paid (5,482 ) (3,110 ) (12,427 ) Capital expenditure and financial (8,409 ) (9,377 ) (19,988 ) investment Acquisitions and disposals 575 (4,432 ) (4,534 ) Equity dividends paid (10,913 ) (9,277 ) (13,494 ) Net cash outflow before financing (8,583 ) (14,676 ) (30,988 ) Financing 10,946 11,940 30,340 Increase (decrease) in cash in 2,363 (2,736 ) (648 ) the period N Brown Group plc - Interim Results NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Unaudited) 26 weeks to 26 weeks to 53 weeks to 1 Sept 2001 26 Aug 2000 3 Mar 2001 £'000 £'000 £'000 1. Analysis of turnover Home shopping 214,219 184,960 395,984 Fulfilment 3,378 6 2,354 Financial services 1,734 972 2,154 219,331 185,938 400,492 2. Analysis of operating profit Home shopping 28,242 24,320 56,931 Fulfilment (1,198 ) (399 ) (1,385 ) Financial services 920 827 1,608 27,964 24,748 57,154 3. The interim accounts were approved by the board of directors on 16 October 2001 and have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the 53 weeks ended 3 March 2001 except for the adoption of Financial Reporting Standard ('FRS') 19 - 'Deferred tax'. FRS 19 requires deferred taxation to be accounted for on a full provision basis instead of a partial provision method as previously adopted by the group. This change in accounting policy has been recognised in the accounts as a prior year adjustment and comparative figures for the 26 weeks ended 26 August 2000 and the 53 weeks ended 3 March 2001 have been restated. As a result of this change, net assets as at 3 March 2001 have been reduced by £1,816,000. There is no impact on the profit and loss account for either period. 4. The calculation of earnings per share is based on the profit for the financial period and the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period of 291,039,000 (2000, 289,854,000). For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of shares of 292,706,000 (2000, 292,687,000) has been calculated after adjusting for the potential dilution of outstanding share options. 5. The taxation charge for the 26 weeks ended 1 September 2001 is based on the estimated effective tax rate for the full year. 6. The interim dividend of 1.65p per ordinary share will be paid on 4 January 2002 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 30 November 2001. 7. The figures for the 53 weeks ended 3 March 2001 have been extracted from the statutory accounts which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified and did not contain any statement under section 237 of the Companies Act 1985. 8. It is expected that the interim report for the 26 weeks ended 1 September 2001 will be posted to shareholders on 16 October 2001.
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