Lack of mid-season sale leads to improved profit at Moss Bros

(ShareCast News) - Menswear retailer Moss Bros reported a 3.3% rise in total sales in the 15 weeks to 14 May on Friday, as investors gathered for the annual general meeting, with like-for-like sales up 5%.The company's retail sales climbed 5.1% during the period, with hire sales growing 4.7%.Of those retail sales, e-commerce sales were up 9.7% and now made up 10.7% of total sales - up marginally from 10% at the same time last year.Moss Bros' gross margins jumped 470 basis points, which it put down to the strategic decision to hold off on a mid-season sale this year.Retail gross profit was up 13.9% on a like-for-like basis on a year ago."We are pleased with our progress. Retail sales and margins have shown further improvement, boosted by the ongoing improvement in our customer offer and the improvement in our store and online environments," said Moss Bros chief executive Brian Brick."The strength of our core offer meant that we were able to trade through the period without running a mid-season sale, which significantly enhanced gross margins in the period."Brick said hire sales were continuing to show improvement and e-commerce sales in the first 15 weeks of the year also grew, reflecting the firm's investment in systems and infrastructure."This has been another good period of progress for Moss Bros and we remain confident about our growth prospects."