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Sales down at Argos and Homebase
Archived article dated Wednesday April 29th 2009
Total sales and like-for-likes were both down for Home Retail Group in the 52 weeks to 28 February. But the company says its operating model and effective cost controls helped mitigate the impact of the downturn.
Total sales fell by 1 per cent to £5.8bn, from £5.98bn in 2008. Like-for-likes were down by 4.8 per cent cent at Argos and by 10.2 per cent at Homebase. Gross margin was down by 81 basis points across the group, by 100 points at Argos, and by 25 per cent at Homebase. Benchmark operating profit fell by 25% to £300m (2008: £398m), with a decline of £73m or 19% at Argos and a decline of £30m or 67% at Homebase.
There has been a shift in how shoppers use the company's stores, with the internet now generating more than a quarter of Argos' sales.
“This has been a challenging year for the UK retail industry. While profit performance in the short term cannot be immune from the economic backdrop, the Group's underlying strengths will secure our continued longer term success. Delivering another year of net cash generation has been an excellent result and ensures we are well placed for the future,” says Home Retail Group chairman Oliver Stocken.
“In a particularly difficult trading environment, we have managed our costs and cash very effectively to limit the impact on profits. This focus has put us in an even better position to trade through another tough year while further improving our competitive position. We will continue to develop our broad product range, benefit further from our advantaged sourcing operations and invest in our multi-channel operations in order to strengthen our position as the UK's leading home and general merchandise retailer,” says group chief executive Terry Duddy.
Tagged as: Argos | Homebase | Home Retail Group | Terry Duddy | Oliver Stocken
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