New Look is to open five standalone menswear stores after successful trials in its flagship store on Oxford Street, central London, and at other key locations.
The fashion retailer was bought by the South African billionaire Christo Wiese for £1.9bn this year after months of speculation that it might be floated on the UK stock market.
On Tuesday, it announced a first-quarter loss of £73.7m owing to the transaction costs of the sale. Profits before tax and the refinancing costs showed a 9% rise to £19.3m. UK like-for-like sales were up 4.1% and own website sales rose strongly, up 38.7%, with online orders at the mobile site up 97% over the period.
The chief executive, Anders Kristiansen, said the group’s expansion into China was going well, with 39 stores in the country and a further 40 signed up for the full year.
On the move into menswear, Roger Wightman, New Look’s chief creative officer, said: “Menswear is a key strategic priority for New Look, and the opening of menswear standalone stores represents a natural next step for us.
“We are very proud of the improvements made to our offer over the past two years – the opening of menswear standalone stores will allow us to more fully showcase the enhanced quality of our product ranges.”
H&M’s chief operating officer, Christopher Englinde, will join New Look in September as the menswear design director.
