Shares in N Brown, the Manchester-headquartered retail group whose brands include Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo, have fallen sharply after it warned the cost of living crisis will continue to hit its sales.
The company said that "uncertainty around macroeconomic conditions persists" and that it was second quarter product revenue decline of 9.4% continued into September.
The business added that it is planning on the basis of the "challenging market conditions continuing for longer".
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After N Brown updated the markets, the company's share price dropped by more than 17% to its lowest level since May 2020.
The company has also revealed its revenue for the six months to August 27 totalled £331.5m, down 4.6% compared to the same period in 2021.
Its statutory pre-tax profits were also slashed from £28.4m to £7.2m.
Chief executive Steve Johnson said: "In a difficult period of weakening consumer confidence, we've balanced our objectives between disciplined trading - with a focus on upholding margin - and delivering on our long-term strategy to transform the business.
"Our teams have worked relentlessly to launch Simply Be's new website, and early indicators give us confidence in the wider benefits for all our customers when we roll this out more widely across our other strategic brands.
"We anticipate continued softness in trading over the second half as macroeconomic pressures continue to weigh on consumers, despite government support. We will, therefore, maintain our focus on tightly managing both our costs and margins.
"At the same time, given our ongoing confidence in our strategy and the strength of our balance sheet, we will continue to invest in our digital transformation to deliver sustainable profitable growth."
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