Body Shop adds to retail gloom
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.TWO retail groups, Body Shop International and Alexon, reported disappointing Christmas sales yesterday, triggering a flurry of share price and profits downgrades. Both announcements were on top of profits warnings issued last autumn.
Body Shop said that after stripping out the impact of new stores, UK sales fell by 8 per cent in the nine weeks to 26 December. However, they improved to show a 4 per cent rise in the three weeks to 2 January.
Gordon Roddick, chairman, said: 'November was extremely bad. Things picked up in December.' The south of England was most depressed. Overseas sales were stronger, with the US showing 4 per cent like-for-like growth and elsewhere 2 per cent.
Body Shop has been experimenting selling tights, socks, pencil cases, notebooks and other products with an endangered species design and Body Shop logo. 'They walked off the shelf,' Mr Roddick said.
Analysts reduced their pre-tax profits forecasts for the year to February from about pounds 24m to pounds 21m. It made pounds 25.2m last time. The shares fell 15p to 153p.
Alexon, which includes Dash and Eastex women's clothes shops, warned it would lose about pounds 1m in the year to January. There will be no final dividend. Analysts had expected a pounds 4m profit. The shares plunged 9p to 68p.
Banks led by Barclays have agreed waivers on loan covenants that have been breached over the past two months. Alexon has borrowings of about pounds 24m and has missed interest cover targets.
Christmas sales were very poor, with the Dash chain understood to have experienced a collapse in sales of about 20 per cent as its key line - women's tracksuits - fell out of favour. The Alexon chain's sales fell by less. Eastex was flat. The group is in the process of axing 50 head office jobs in a reorganisation that will cost an exceptional pounds 1m. The annual savings will be about pounds 1m, it said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments