Struggling U.K. sportswear retailer JJB Sports PLC (JJB.LN)
Wednesday said it expects to post a full-year pretax loss before
exceptionals of between GBP5 million and GBP10 million, and is
mulling the future of its loss-making LifeStyle division.
The gloomy statement follows Tuesday's announcement from the
company that collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing Bank has seized
Chief Executive Chris Ronnie's 27.5% stake in the company.
Highly-indebted U.K. pub group Punch Taverns PLC (PUB.LN),
meanwhile, posted dismal trading figures despite a slight
improvement over Christmas, with a sharp fall in profits in its
leased pubs and lower sales and margins at its directly managed
estate disappointing investors.
Shares in JJB Sports and Punch Taverns sank as a result.
Their updates followed Tesco PLC's (TSCO.LN) news Tuesday that
the country's biggest retailer had its worst U.K. Christmas sales
performance since the early 1990s, hurt by its greater exposure to
non-food lines like clothing and electricals than some of its
supermarket rivals.
Tesco said U.K. same-store-sales, excluding fuel, rose a modest
2.5% for the seven weeks to Jan. 10 from a year earlier, bang in
line with market expectations. But Tesco booked an impressive 33%
jump in international sales, helped by favorable exchange rate
movements in Europe, and a particularly strong performance in Asia.
Group sales rose 12%.
Tesco's U.K. performance was weak compared to rival J Sainsbury
PLC (SBRY.LN), which last week reported a better-than-expected 4.5%
rise in same-store-sales, excluding fuel, for the fiscal-third
quarter ended Jan. 3, underpinned by its best Christmas results to
date.
William Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) is expected to
outperform the local grocery sector when it reports on Jan. 22,
with analysts forecasting a 8.5% rise in same-store-sales,
excluding fuel.
Game Group PLC (GMG.LN), the specialist retailer of PC and video
games, Tuesday unveiled a strong Christmas performance, with sales
for the six week period ended Jan. 10 up 16.6% and like-for-like
sales up by 5.4%. Its shares nonetheless fell in reaction the
company's warning that revenue growth in 2009 will be
"challenging".
Christmas updates so far from U.K. retailers indicate the Yule
Tide period wasn't as bad as many had expected.
Still, U.K. retail sales posted their worst Christmas
performance on record in December, as broad-based weakness sent
sales plunging, according to the British Retail Consortium.
The question in the months to come is whether spending will dry
up now that Christmas is over and the sales are coming to an
end.
The overall picture for Christmas 2008 so far is that food and
discount retailers did better than sellers of big-ticket electrical
goods, home furnishings and satellite navigation systems.
On Thursday, news of big falls in same-store sales are expected
from DSG International PLC (DSGI.LN), the country's biggest
electrical goods retailer, and from Home Retail Group PLC
(HOME.LN), which operates do-it-yourself chain Homebase and
general-merchandise chain Argos.
Last Friday, sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion PLC (JD.LN)
pleased investors by saying it expects full-year profit to beat
market forecasts after it had a lucrative Christmas. Meanwhile
shares in Jessops PLC (JSP.LN) soared Friday after the nation's
biggest photographic retailer posted higher seasonal period
sales.
Good holiday sales were also reported by department store House
of Fraser and fashion retailer Peacocks. Upmarket fashion group Ted
Baker however said heavy discounting over Christmas hit its margins
and it now expects full-year profit to be at the lower end of
market expectations.
Sainsbury's strong showing also contrasted with last Wednesday's
poor Christmas trading update from Marks & Spencer Group PLC
(MKS.LN), which had its worst quarterly sales performance for a
decade and responded by closing 27 stores and cutting 1,230
jobs.
The U.K. retail holiday trading season kicked-off on Jan. 5 when
both U.K. department store chain John Lewis and London department
store Liberty PLC (LBE.LN) presented encouraging sales reports.
The following day, Next PLC (NXT.LN), Debenhams PLC (DEB.LN),
New Look and The Co-operative reported better-than-expected
Christmas sales performances.
The sector's downturn has nonetheless claimed a number of
victims.
U.K. sofa retailer Land of Leather PLC (LAN.LN) became the
latest high-profile retail casualty of the U.K.'s struggling
economy Monday, when it was placed in administration. Others forced
into administration include china and glass group Waterford
Wedgwood PLC (WTFU.DB), Passion for Perfume Ltd., Adams
Childrenswear Ltd., clothing chain USC, CD, DVD and video game
retailer zavvi, coffee-and-tea purveyor Whittards of Chelsea,
clothing chain the Officers Club, Woolworths Group PLC (WLW.LN) and
furniture retailer MFI.
Other U.K. retailers that are scheduled to report trading
performances in coming days include:
Thu, Jan. 15: DSG International PLC (DSGI.LN) update
Home Retail Group PLC (HOME.LN) 3Q
HMV Group PLC (HMV.LN) trading update
Carphone Warehouse Group PLC (CPW.LN) 3Q
Associated British Foods PLC update
Halfords Group PLC (HFD.LN) trading update
Mothercare PLC (MTC.LN) trading update
Galiform PLC (GFRM.LN) trading update
Mon, Jan. 19 ASOS PLC (ASC.LN) trading update
Tue, Jan. 20: Kesa Electricals PLC (KESA.LN) trading update
Thu, Jan. 22: William Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN)
Mon, Jan. 26: WH Smith PLC (SMWH.LN) AGM trading update
Tue, Feb. 3: Carpetright PLC trading update
-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290;
lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front
page of today's most important business and market news, analysis
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