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Clothing retailer Alexon today said profits rose to £12 million after it eliminated losses associated with its menswear division.

The group sold its 115-outlet Style Menswear operation for £1 in February, leaving it with women's brands including Dash, Bay Trading and Ann Harvey.

Alexon said it was now better placed to continue its recovery, with annual profits from continuing operations up to £12 million from £10.5 million in 2007.

Like-for-like sales for the year to January 26 were down 5.6%, but this was offset by an improvement in margins against the previous year.

Alexon said Eastex and Dash continued to perform strongly, while Alex & Co and Minuet showed recovery after a tough previous year.

Meanwhile, the buying and design teams on Kaliko and Ann Harvey have been strengthened and are expected to have a positive impact during the current year.

But the Luton-based group, which operated 244 UK stores at the end of January, said trading conditions deteriorated in the second half of the financial year.

"While the outcome for the year will be affected by the overall trading climate, the business is well placed to continue its recovery," it added in a statement.

Style Menswear, which was sold for a token £1, made a loss of £15.1 million in the last financial year.

The business trades as Envy Menswear and Parkes, with 55 leasehold stores in locations including Nottingham, Bristol and Coventry. It was acquired by retail entrepreneur John Kinnaird.

The write-down of assets meant full-year results when including discontinued operations showed losses of £12.2 million.