Update: Christmas profits boost Debenhams
06/01/2009
Better than expected Christmas sales, higher profits and easing fears about its debt position helped department store chain Debenhams gain a third of its value Tuesday.
Like for like sales fell 3.5% during the 18 weeks ended 3 January, in line with expectations. Analysts had predicted a drop of between 3% and 5%.
There was a 3.3% fall during the 12 weeks since the company's last update on 21 October, but that was better than the 4.2% slip seen in the first six weeks.
The group said net debt was "significantly lower" than at the same time last year. It was just under £1bn at the end of August 2008.
Both profit before tax and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were both higher than last year during the 18 weeks due to "the increase in gross transaction value, the continuing tight management of costs and stocks and our decision to focus on the levers that drive cash margin".
Debenhams continued to take market share from competitors, but gross margin in the year-to-date was flat on a year ago due to heavy discounting in the run up to Christmas.
"Our trading strategy for the first 18 weeks of the year has resulted in further market share gains and a creditable sales performance given the extremely difficult and volatile conditions seen across the high street," said chief executive Rob Templeman.
"Looking forward, the trading environment is likely to remain challenging for the whole retail sector."
| Latest Prices |
| Name |
Price |
% |
| Debenhams |
34.25 |
+20.18 |
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