E-tailer N Brown’s half-year results on Thursday showed the owner of Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo growing its profits and making “strategic progress”, despite revenue falling.

The company’s overall revenue fell 6.7% in the 26 weeks to the end of August, hitting £277.2 million. Within that, product revenue was down 7.9% at £172.7 million and financial services revenue fell a narrower 4.6% to £104.5 million. 

But adjusted EBITDA was up 7.4% at £18.8 million and the margin rose from 5.9% to 6.8%. Adjusted profit before tax jumped from £0.1 million to £3.6 million and statutory profit before tax swung from a loss of £2.8 million a year ago to a profit of £0.2 million this time.

CEO Steve Johnson said: “We have built on our return to profit in FY24 by delivering year-on-year progression in the first half of FY25. Our focus on maximising profitable sales and managing the cost base in a soft trading environment has ensured we remain on track to achieve management’s full year adjusted EBITDA expectations and we are encouraged by trading at the start of Q3.

“We have continued to deliver against our self-funded transformational priorities, including the successful launch of the new JD Williams website and our Product Information Management system to the remaining strategic brands, whilst our financial services transformation continues to progress well with the new platform now in testing. These developments will enhance the customer experience and will be supported by strengthened marketing activity to help position the business for sustainable profitable growth.”

The revenue fall came as the firm continued to focus on profitable sales in a tough market characterised by  unseasonal weather and its avoidance of excessive markdowns helped its margin.

As Johnson mentioned, Q3 so far looks encouraging with the company saying the first five weeks of the period has seen the product revenue trajectory improving to -2% against the prior year.

The company expects this to continue for the rest of the second half with the challenging conditions out there gradually easing, although it hasn’t “yet seen a material change in consumer spending habits in our markets”.

Looking back at H1 as well as ahead, the company said that within women’s brands, it continues to evolve its portfolio for JD Williams, “expanding our offerings with brands which resonate most with our customers and phasing out those that do not. Notably, Adidas and Under Armour have shown particularly strong progress in H1. Looking ahead to H2, we are excited to launch Sweaty Betty on JD Williams at the end of October, further enhancing our successful sportswear branded offerings”.

As for Simply Be, it added that its own-brand mix has grown, “with a particularly high mix within women’s fashion, at 74%. The own-brand performance and credibility is reflected through several third-parties, both in the UK and globally, expressing interest in stocking and selling our brands and we are currently exploring these commercial opportunities”.

And it has seen a “strong performance from men’s brands, particularly on Jacamo. We have also strengthened our partnerships with premium tech brands such as Apple and Samsung, enabling us to offer their products at launch, aligned with market standards”.