High street remains harsh for Woolies
Store refit program impacts on sales
Woolworths like-for-like sales were down by 6.7 per cent. Total Group sales from the combined retail and entertainment wholesale and publishing businesses for the 19 weeks to 10th June 2006 have decreased 0.4 per cent
Third party sales at Entertainment UK (EUK) for the 19 week period were up 21.2 per cent. EUK continues to seek new customers to replace the Tesco business, which ceases in April 2007 and to broaden the scope of its capabilities.
2 entertain, the Group’s 40 per cent owned entertainment publishing joint venture with BBC Worldwide, continued to trade well, with sales in the 19 week period up 4.0 per cent.
Gerald Corbett, Chairman, said “We anticipate that the retail environment will continue to be challenging. In the short-term, we expect England’s participation in the World Cup to reduce overall high street footfall”.