Home shopping group update awaited
Home shopping company N Brown and Whitworths parent Real Good Food are expected to display resilience when they give trading updates this week.Catalogue and online shopping group N Brown is set to report more robust trading figures on Tuesday as it benefits from trends that have seen the population grow older and heavier.
The Manchester-based group - which owns the Simply Be, High & Mighty, Figleaves, Marisota and Jacamo brands - reported a 2.5% increase in pre-tax profits to £96.9 million in the year to March 3, on sales up 4.8% to £753.2 million.
Like-for-like sales grew by 0.6% in the first eight weeks of its new financial year, which was lower than the 1.6% rate over the previous 12 months. But it said the recent spate of retail casualties would boost its sales and its performance is expected to be strong in its first quarter.
The group's last results were boosted after its Figleaves lingerie retailer posted the first profit in its 13-year history. There was also a 50% rise in sales at Jacamo - which is aimed at larger, 30-something men - with a new range backed by former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff selling well.
Singer Capital Markets analyst Matthew McEachran said: "Recent (results) were solid and the management have a good track record of delivery with the business continuing to benefit from certain key trends - an ageing and 'expanding' population and a transactional shift to the internet."
Meanwhile, a boom in home baking is set to drive further growth at the owner of sugar brand Whitworths on Tuesday.
Liverpool-based Real Good Food, which also provides supermarkets with own-label baking ingredients, reported that underlying profits more than doubled to £5.7 million in the year to December.
Because of a change in its reporting dates, it will provide a fresh set of figures for the year to March, which are expected to show that the strong trading it reported in January has continued. It aims to return Whitworths, which was founded in 1886, to its former glory as a sugar brand, and launched a new speciality range of products in the autumn.
The food ingredients part of Whitworths has been owned by a private equity group since 2006.
Singer Capital Markets analyst Matthew McEachran said: "Recent (results) were solid and the management have a good track record of delivery with the business continuing to benefit from certain key trends - an ageing and 'expanding' population and a transactional shift to the internet."
Meanwhile, a boom in home baking is set to drive further growth at the owner of sugar brand Whitworths on Tuesday.
Liverpool-based Real Good Food, which also provides supermarkets with own-label baking ingredients, reported that underlying profits more than doubled to £5.7 million in the year to December.
Because of a change in its reporting dates, it will provide a fresh set of figures for the year to March, which are expected to show that the strong trading it reported in January has continued. It aims to return Whitworths, which was founded in 1886, to its former glory as a sugar brand, and launched a new speciality range of products in the autumn.
The food ingredients part of Whitworths has been owned by a private equity group since 2006.
© 2013 Press Association