Peacocks confident after good Christmas
Clothing retailer sees benefits of system investment
January 16 2004
Value clothing retailer Peacock Group has seen the sales benefits of investment in a more flexible supply chain and better stock controls, with total sales up 11.1 per cent in the 39 weeks to December 27.
However, the past quarter has seen sales growth slow, with total sales up 6.7 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 27, and a like-for-like dip of 0.3 per cent. However, with better stock controls Peacocks reported like-for-like gross profit for the quarter up 3.8 per cent.
The group said better controls reduced the need for unplanned reductions, leading to a significant margin improvement and a satisfactory sales performance ‘in the light of the market’.
The Peacocks chain saw positive like-for-like sales and gross profit growth in the quarter, with like-for-likes up 3 per cent and total sales up 6.4 per cent. Christmas week and the start of the sale beat Peacocks’ internal forecast, despite lower levels of clearance stock than last year, thanks to better sales of new Spring lines.
The Bonmarche’ chain saw a satisfactory sales performance against strong comparatives with the previous year.Total sales grew by 7.2 per cent in the quarter with like-for-likes down 3.2 per cent.
A further 14 Peacocks outlets, including five in Somerfield and KwikSave supermarkets and two 4thehome homeware stores, were opened, along with 18 new Bonmarche stores. Peacocks now operates 398 stores and Bonnmarche 308.
Chairman John Lovering said: “We believe our performance has been pleasing in a testing market, partly reflecting our decision to maintain full prices until Christmas. Although the environment will continue to be tough, we are confident that we are well placed to meet our expectations for the year.”
