Moss Bros ready talk to Millen man

BID target Moss Bros is attempting to set up a meeting with Karen Millen co-founder Kevin Stanford, who last month emerged as a major shareholder in the menswear group.

Stanford, who recently sold his share of the Millen retail chain for £60m, owns 5.5% of Moss Bros but controls just over 28% in total, held largely through Contracts for Difference which he bought last month from fellow fashion entrepreneur Shami Ahmed.

'I don't know whether [Stanford] wants to bid for us or not,' said new Moss Bros chief executive Philip Mountford. 'He's got a lot of money, he's got a big stake and he's a professional retailer. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with him but he's proving difficult to track down.'

Meanwhile, strong suit sales helped Moss Bross return to the black over the first half, the first time in five years it has turned in a positive interim performance.

Mountford promised profits of at least £500,000 in the six months to the end of July, against a loss last time of £1.8m. Like-for-like sales were up by 8% on last year, including a 14% jump in suit sales.

The business has benefited from the return to more formal wear after the demise of the dress-down trend, but has capitalised on the revival of the suit more than many of its competitors, including Austin Reed. All its retail chains - Moss, Cecil Gee and Boss - contributed to the sales growth and analysts said the group is on course to more than quadruple full-year profits, from £1m to £4m-plus.