Poundstretcher chain in Christmas revamp

Brown & Jackson, the discount retailer that is being taken upmarket, reported a sharp rise in underlying sales yesterday, insisting the woes of last Christmas were well behind it.

Brown & Jackson, the discount retailer that is being taken upmarket, reported a sharp rise in underlying sales yesterday, insisting the woes of last Christmas were well behind it.

The group, which issued a profits warning in January, said it had stepped up the rate of converting its tired Poundstretcher estate into its new Instore format. It will have 75 new-look stores trading by the end of this month, compared with analysts' expectations of 50 - leaving it with 245 to go.

B&J said like-for-like sales rose 11 per cent during the past six weeks, after climbing 5 per cent during its first half.

Angus Monro, the chief executive, said: "We have continued to lay the foundation for a very strong recovery." He decided to ditch the Poundstretcher format after research revealed that customers found the term "pejorative".

Out went the "more is more" mantra of the traditional bargain retailer, and in came Instore, a "brighter, less congested" shopping experience, according to Mr Monro. He said the group had corrected such "range omissions" as a lack of Christmas trees, with help from the new distribution centre it opened earlier this year.

The strong figures prompted analysts to upgrade their forecasts. Mark Charnock, at Investec Securities, raised his pre-tax profits target by £2.5m to £9.5m, while Nick Bubb, at Evolution Beeson Gregory, increased his to £10m from £9m.

B&J narrowed its pre-tax losses to £2.8m from £4.6m, excluding the profits it made on selling properties.