Debenhams like-for-like sales decrease
Debenhams said like-for-like sales decreased by 0.4% over the 42 weeks adding that it remains cautious about consumer confidence.
Gross transaction value for the 42 week period to 19th June increased by 8.9% compared with the previous year.
The group said like-for-like sales were impacted by the strategy of improving gross margins by increasing the penetration of own bought trading space and by stronger comparatives in the third quarter of 2009. The multi-channel business continued to grow strongly with sales for the 42 week period up 90% compared with the previous year. In store ordering, collect-from-store and international delivery are all proving popular with customers.
Rob Templeman, CEO, said: “We are pleased with the performance of the business so far this year and we continue to make progress in delivering our strategy of improving margins and profits through increasing the own bought element of our sales mix. 2010 has been a year of change for Debenhams and a year when we will judge the performance of the business on profit improvement.
“Looking forward across the balance of the year, we remain cautious about the strength of the overall retail market and the level of consumer confidence. However, we believe that our focus on self-help levers – including increasing gross margin through higher own bought sales penetration, the recent acquisition of Magasin du Nord, our growing multi-channel business and the ongoing store refurbishment programme – will help to mitigate the macro-economic pressures and enable Debenhams to make further progress over the coming year.”
