Formal suits look good for Moss Bros

STRONG sales of formal suits have helped menswear group Moss Bros push its profits ahead from £1m to £5.5m, and chief executive Philip Mountford is confident of continued recovery in the current year.

Turnover for the year to end January rose by 5% to £130.2m, with a strong like-for-like increase of 9%. Sales remain buoyant and are ahead by 6% in the first 10 weeks of the year.

There was a further improvement in margins, although costs were higher than expected. The dividend total is raised by 50% to 1.5p a share.

Moss Bros also owns the Cecil Gee and Boss chains and said all three parts of the business contributed to the profits recovery.

Sales have been boosted by the rising demand for formal suits. Following the demise of the dress-down trend, the market for suits is estimated to have recovered to £657m and Moss Bros has pushed its share back up to just over 8%. Mountford aims to take that to 10% over the next few years.

The group is also reaping the benefits of its store revamp programme and said sales of the new-look shops are running 12% ahead like-for-like. Trading will be tough in the year ahead, said Mountford, 'but we're flexible and I'm confident we will do well despite the difficult background'.