Noni B’s buys lead to growth
RETAILER Noni B has continued its turnaround from near collapse to more than double its first-half sales on strong Christmas trade and the acquisition of brands including Millers and Katies.
Sales grew by 140 per cent to $457 million for the six months ending December compared to the same period a year earlier, the womenswear group said yesterday.
The surge follows it buying Millers, Katies, Crossroads, Autograph, Rivers and City Chic from Specialty Fashion Group for $31 million last year.
The brands have also helped, but not stopped, sliding sales at the fashion group.
Like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of stores opening and closing, fell 3.1 per cent for the six months to December.
That is a slowdown from the 5 per cent sales slide the company posted in the same period a year earlier.
The retailer also said it had notched up a 1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales during the crucial December trading month.
First-half earnings are expected to come in at $29 million, at the upper end of the $25 million to $30 million analysts had forecast.
The group reaffirmed a fullyear earnings target of $45 million.
“Noni B is pleased with this FASHIONABLE. Noni B CEO Scott Evans is tipping more sales growth. result, which reflects the success of the group’s focus on integration efficiencies, restocking of the newly acquired brands and continued online improvements to date, as outlined at the annual general meeting,” chief executive Scott Evans said.
“The group remains confident for the second half of the financial year as it continues its strategy to deliver synergies and improve gross profit sustainably across the portfolio of brands.”
Noni B expects the suite of former Specialty brands to triple its annual revenue to about $1 billion and lift volumes of garments sold to 40 million items
Private equity group Alceon became the major shareholder in Noni B in late 2014 after it had posted three straight years of losses.
Shares in Noni B rose 10 per cent, or 25c, yesterday to $2.75. THE Chrysler Building, one of the most iconic structures in New York, has been put up for sale by its owners, Emirati investment firm Mubadala and real estate group Tishman Speyer.
The owners did not set a selling price, a source close to the sale said on condition of anonymity, confirming a report that was first published in The Wall Street Journal.
The building in midtown Manhattan, considered an Art Deco masterpiece, was acquired in 2008 by Mubadala, which paid $800 million for a 90 per cent stake.
Tishman Speyer, which had bought the building outright for a reported $210-$250 million in 1997, retained a 10 per cent stake.
Neither firm would offer a comment when contacted.
Tishman Speyer has hired real estate group CBRE to manage the sale of the building at the intersection of 42nd St and Lexington Ave.
The announcement comes at a difficult time for the New York real estate market.
Development of the Hudson Yards neighbourhood, on Manhattan’s West Side, will soon be complete, with more than 1.6 million square metres of new office and residential space. That has driven prices down.