World Cup helps boot Moss Bros to a loss of £1.7m

MOSS Bros has warned over profits after hot summer weather and the World Cup “distraction” pushed the menswear retailer to a half-year loss.

Earnings show the retailer swung to a pre-tax loss of £1.7 million for the six months to July 28, having made £3.9m profit in the same period last year.

The retailer said it was knocked by £1.2m in store impairments, in light of a “small number of underperforming stores”, and took a further £800,000 hit amid “reorganisation and employee-related costs”.

It also suffered a 3.3% drop in total group revenue excluding VAT to £64.5m, while like-for-like retail sales, including e-commerce, fell 6.9 per cent.

Moss Bros shares plunged nearly 14%.

Chief executive Brian Brick said trading performance over the period “was one of the most volatile for many years” – a result he blamed on extreme weather conditions and the World Cup football tournament.

He said: “We initially saw sales performance recover well following our previously highlighted early season stock shortages, and sales were generally ahead of expectation.

“This came to an abrupt end when high street footfall dropped dramatically, impacted by the protracted and unplanned period of extremely hot weather and the widespread distraction of England’s success in the World Cup.”

Mr Brick went on to say “early response” to the autumn and winter ranges has been “strong”.