News: Specialty Fashion H1 profit falls 37%

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Woman’s clothing retailer, Specialty Fashion Group Ltd (ASX:SFH) says its first half profit  fell 37 per cent to $16.8 million.



The company which operates under brand names including, Millers and Katies, says the drop was due to a difficult trading environment and heavy discounting.



Chief Executive, Gary Perlstein says there is a new headwind for apparel retailers to manage, due to higher yarn prices and an increase in Chinese labour costs.



He says the Australian consumer has become accustomed to price deflation over a number of years, so retailers would find it challenging to pass increases in product costs to consumers.



In the year ended on 30June 2010, Specialty Fashion Group posted a net profit of $30.4 million.