UPDATE 3-Alexon FY adj profit falls, scraps final dividend

* Exceptional items of 31.2 mln stg

* FY group like-for-like sales down 9.1 pct

* Says performance of Bay Trading still challenging

* Says comfortable with 2010 analysts' view

* Shares down 22 pct (Adds CEO, FD comments; updates share movement)

By Tresa Sherin Morera

BANGALORE, April 22 (Reuters) - British fashion retailer Alexon Group Plc (AXN.L) posted a 79 percent fall in its full-year adjusted pretax profit mainly on lower margins and a poor performance at its Bay Trading brand, and said that it would not pay a final dividend.

The company, whose brands also include Dash and Ann Harvey, said its trading since the year end was in line with its expectations for the core Alexon brands, but the performance of Bay Trading remained challenging.

Alexon shares, which have lost more than 63 percent of their value from their 52-week high of 91 pence, were down 7.25 pence at 26 pence at 1638 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. They touched a low of 25.5 pence earlier.

"We have a clear turnaround plan in place and despite difficult market conditions are confident we will make progress going forward," the company said in a statement.

For the year ended Jan. 31, pretax profit before exceptional items fell sharply to 3.5 million pounds ($5.14 million) from 16.4 million pounds last year. Revenue fell by 4.5 percent to 250.3 million pounds.

Analysts on average had expected Alexon to post a full-year pretax profit before one-off items of 3.8 million pounds on revenue of 240.9 million pounds, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company had 31.2 million pounds of exceptional items, comprising provisions in respect of onerous leases and impairment of goodwill for the period.

It slipped to a pretax loss of 27.7 million pounds for the year from a profit of 12.0 million pounds a year ago.

The core Alexon brands posted an underlying operating profit of 10.1 million pounds, down from 14.0 million pounds last year, while like-for-like sales for the year were down 6.0 percent.

The company said its Bay Trading unit had an adjusted operating loss of 7.2 million pounds against a profit of 1.1 million pounds last year with same-store sales down 16 percent.