French Connection will this week announce its first group loss in 14 years following a fall-off in sales. The retailer will say on Tuesday that it made a pre-tax loss of up to £4m for the six months to the end of July, compared with a pre-tax profit of £5.1m last year.

The last time that French Connection, which is still run by founder Stephen Marks, reported a group-wide pre-tax loss was in 1992, when it was £8m in the red for the full year. The retailer has had an unsettling period. It issued three profit warnings in the 13 months to December 2005, and warned earlier this year that like-for-like sales were in negative territory. Furthermore, French Connection ditched its advertising agency earlier in the summer after a poorly received brand.

A French Connection spokeswoman would not comment on this week's figures. However, Peel Hunt, the broker, is forecasting a pre-tax loss of £3.6m while Evolution Securities expects a loss of £1.5m. Earlier this year analysts reduced their full-year profit expectations. French Connection is expected to make a full-year pre-tax profit for the year to next January of £3.8m, down from £15.7m this year.