British fashion retailer French Connection Group reported a drop in profit for the half-year due to the closure of some of its stores.

Fashion retailer French Connection Group, which has outlets in Ireland, has reported a half-year loss and said it expected to stay in the red for the full year, sending its shares down as much as 23%.

BRITAIN’S third-largest clothing retailer Next has said annual profits rose 4% last year but added that trading will be difficult in the coming months.

French Connection Group, the British owner of fashion stores in Europe and the US, said chairman and chief executive Stephen Marks plans to sell as much as 10% of the stock, relinquishing his controlling stake in the business he founded in 1969.