French Connection back in the black

Fashion retailer French Connection hailed the success of recent restructuring as it swung into profit in the first half of 2010.Stripping out businesses that have been or will be discarded, the company posted a pre-tax profit of £200,000, against a loss of £5.4m over the same period the previous year. Turnover climbed 4% to £96.2m.'I am pleased with the substantial improvement in operating results and confident that French Connection is now back on track,' said chairman Stephen Marks.He said he was cautious on trading for the rest of the year but added: 'The improvement we have achieved in the first half of the year along with the reduced cost base following the restructuring allows us to be confident that we will show progress for the year as a whole.'French Connection's restructuring has included selling off its Nicole Farhi brand.