The owner of a number of online fashion brands has seen a big rise in full-year profits, despite a drop in sales.

N Brown, which owns size-inclusive fashion retailers Simply B and Jacamo, as well as JD Williams, saw adjusted pre-tax profits up 46.6 per cent to £43.1 million, as reported by Retail Gazette.

This is despite a 1.8 per cent drop in sales to £715.7 million over the year to February 26.

Sales at Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo were up 9.9 per cent, due to a strong performance in clothing and footwear, but this was brought down by some of N Brown's other retailers.

The group invested heavily in its brands over the year, hiring Davina McCall and Amanda Holden as JD Williams brand ambassadors.

Sustainability was a big focus for N Brown over the year, and it achieved its target of sustainably sourcing 30 per cent of its own brand products.