Ladieswear firm Slimma has blamed the weather and the credit crunch for a fall in profits and revenues.

The Leek-based branded fashion house saw sales fall 12.3 per cent, to £8.1 million, and operating profit dip 12.2 per cent, to £177,000, in the six months to March 28.
Non-executive chairman Carolyn Simons admitted market conditions were challenging because of a slowdown in spending and unseasonal weather.

The company is currently re-organising to save £1.5 million a year by cutting overheads.

She said: "The combination of unseasonable weather conditions, rising household expenditure, falling house prices and adverse credit publicity is, in our opinion, having a negative impact on our customers' purchasing.

"However, we are making good progress in adapting the business to combat this challenging climate which appears set to continue."

Slimma employs around 60 people in North Staffordshire, compared to more than 300 a decade ago.

It has since changed its focus from making clothes to buying brands like Frank Usher, Cattiva and Peter Martin to sell across the world, as a result of competition from emerging nations.

It made a pre-tax loss of more than £1 million in the year to September 28 and has announced a review to cut costs.

Ms Simons said the re-organisation is in line with plans, but the company was struggling with tough retail conditions.

Slimma's premier brand, Frank Usher, saw a rise in sales in the UK across the six-month period, but there was a significant sales reduction in Italy, Spain and Canada.

The remainder of the company's brands saw "disappointing" sales falls of between 16 per cent and 30 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Source: The Sentinel

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