Year: 2019

Booths posts festive sales boost and profit increase

High end supermarket group Booths has reported a “strong” growth in sales over the Christmas period as well as an increase in profit. In the three weeks to 5 January 2019, the company saw a 3.3% increase in sales and a 4.5% year-on-year uplift in profits. The retailer said its…

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Richemont Europe blames French ‘social unrest’ for sales slowdown

Swiss retail group, Richemont Europe, has blamed French “yellow vest” protests for a slowdown in its sales. The group, which owns Cartier, Dunhill and Net-A-Porter, said it had seen a 5% rise in total sales for the quarter ending 31 December. Despite the sales figure being in line with analysts…

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JD Sports ‘confident’ after strong Christmas sales growth

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has reported a total sales growth of 15% for the 48-week period to 5 January 2019. Total like-for-like sales growth during the period also increased by 5%, which included a consistently positive like-for-like performance across Black Friday and the Christmas period. According to the group,…

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Footfall drops for 13th consecutive month in December

Footfall declined for the 13th consecutive month in December, despite heavy discounting by retailers during the festive period. Overall footfall declined by 2.6% in the month, although this is a lesser decline compared to the previous year when it fell sharply by 3.5%.   High street footfall declined by 2.1%,…

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New Look reveals plan to slash debt to £350m

High street retailer New Look has announced it has reached an ‘in principle’ debt-for-equity swap proposal with key stakeholders to reduce its debt by 80%. The fashion chain is seeking to cut its debt from £1.35bn to £350m and issue new bonds to raise £150m in capital. It also expects…

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Keeping up with Amazon

Since its inception in the 90s, Amazon has become a global retail giant that has transformed the industry. Whether that transformation is seen as a positive or negative will vary depending on experience and which side of the argument you find yourself. For many retailers, Amazon, and similar online giants…

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Tesco and M&S stockpile tinned food in prep for Brexit

Tesco and Marks and Spencer have announced they are stockpiling long-life foods in preparation of a no-deal Brexit. The ‘big four’ grocer’s chief executive Dave Lewis revealed that “sensible” contingency planning was underway and the company had been holding talks with its suppliers about increasing stocks of long-life groceries. However…

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Boohoo falls foul of ASA again over fur pom poms

Online retailer, Boohoo, has been reprimanded by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) again after it was found to be advertising a jumper as “faux fur” which had pom poms that were in fact made from real fur. The advert stated the item of clothing on sale was a “faux fur…

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B&M shrugs off Christmas retail woes with strong revenue growth

Bargain retailer B&M has reported a 12.1% increase in group sales revenue growth for the 13 weeks to 29 December 2018. UK sales revenue for the period also increased by 4.5% to £874.5m, compared with £837m last year, however, life-for-like sales decreased by 1.6%, against the increase of 3.9% in…

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Quiz issues profit warning

Fashion brand Quiz has issued a profit warning despite an 8.4% increase in group revenue in the six-week period from 25 November 2018 to 5 January 2019 against the comparable period last year. This was below anticipated revenues and resulted in a “higher than anticipated” level of discounting to clear…

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