Fashion group Mosaic Brands saw revenue fall 18 per cent during the six months to 27 December 2020 to $359 million, though earnings before tax rose 38 per cent to $45.1 million due to targeted initiatives meant to reset the business for a “post-Covid economy”.

These initiatives included shutting unprofitable stores, as well as growing its online offer from 25,000 items to more than 350,000 and boosting gross margin. Following tax, the business’ profit grew by just 6 per cent to $13 million.

Mosaic Brands manages Noni B, Millers, Rockmans, Katies, Rivers, Autograph, W. Lane, and Crossroads.

Following the end of its JobKeeper support, the business said it entered its toughest ever trading period and has returned to profitability following its first half-year loss.

“Given the unique demographic of our customers we did not see, nor expect, a short term stimulus sugar hit to sales,” Mosaic chief executive Scott Evans said.

“However, conversely we are now planning for a longer term sustainable shift in sales due to post-vaccine tailwinds as many of those same customers emerge from hibernation.

“As the vaccine rollout gets underway we expect our customers will more confidently return to spend in-store and shopping will resume as a social outing as opposed to a targeted mission.”

And while the half proved positive for Mosaic, and January continued the trend of sales improvement, Mosaic still considers itself trading within a ‘mask economy’ that can be hit by lockdowns and customer sentiment can change day to day, and will not provide an outlook for the remainder of FY21.