High Street Brand Coast Bankrupt

There is another high street brand in the UK.

The women's fashion brand Coast has filed for bankruptcy management order, and the manager PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers pointed out in the press release that the retail environment, especially the structural challenges of the concession counter market and the shrinking demand for occasional dresses, caused Coast to face financial difficulties for a long time.

In addition, House of Fraser Ltd. (HoF), the UK's extensive chain of stores, was acquired by Mike Ashley, the UK retail tycoon, after the bankruptcy this year. However, he did not assume the debt of Newchic Coupon the department store before bankruptcy, a large number of brands and supplies. The business suffered huge losses. French classic fashion brand French Connection Group PLC (FCCN.L) disclosed HoF's bankruptcy in the recent interim results, which resulted in a bad debt of 800,000 pounds. The high-end leather goods brand Mulberry Group PLC (MUL.L) also issued a profit warning, which directly led to The stock price fell by 30%. For small and medium-sized businesses like Coast, such a blow is even more deadly, and British media said the brand was owed £1 million by HoF.

British fashion retailer Karen Millen has agreed to acquire some of Coast's assets, including 144 counters and other franchise stores in global websites, Debenhams PLC (DEB.L) and John Lewis, and take over 600 employees. However, 24 Coast independent stores and counters on the European mainland market are not in the trading range, meaning that another 300 positions including sales positions may not be guaranteed.

Founded in 1996, Coast is part of the British fashion group Aurora Fashions Holdings Ltd. Karen Millen was spun off from the group in 2012 and is directly held by the parent company of Aurora Fashions Holdings Ltd., Kaupthing Bank of Iceland. Kaupthing Bank has been seeking to sell Aurora Fashions Holdings Ltd. in the past few years, and in 2017 it was close to a £60 million deal with private equity firm Emerisque Brands.

In September this year, market news said that Aurora Fashions Holdings Ltd. hopes to speed up the sale of Coast, which also owns fashion brands Oasis and Warehouse. In the fiscal year ending February 25, 2017, Coast achieved less than £80 million in sales and £2.7 million in profit, which is the best performance of the past five years.

In recent years, the UK's high-street retail map has continued to shrink. In the context of Brexit, it has become more popular since 2018. Electrical retailer Maplin and toy retailer Toys “R” Us have closed down. Fashion retailers New Look and Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MKS.L) Marks & Spencer has closed the store to stop losses. Debenhams PLC, which released three profit warnings this year, is also likely to take the same approach. Just this week, Patisserie Valerie, a chain of desserts with more than 200 stores and 2,500 employees, announced that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

For the six-year continuous loss of the French Connection Group PLC is also seeking to sell.

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