JESSOPS, the photographic chain which is battling online sales and supermarket competition, brought some welcome relief to the high street yesterday after sales turned positive over the festive period.
Investors snapped up shares in the embattled retailer after it reported a like-for-like gain of 0.3 per cent in the seven weeks to 6 January.
The figure, which strips out the recent closure of 81 stores, helped peg the sales decline for the first
14 weeks of the new financial year at 4.7 per cent.
A tighter control of costs saw the group sitting with stock worth £34 million as of last Sunday – almost half the level reported a year earlier when they peaked at £62m.
The recovery in trading and reduction in stock levels follow a dreadful 2007, when the company issued a string of profit warnings and was left nursing annual losses of almost £70m.
Last summer, Jessops unveiled plans to close 81 stores – about a quarter of its UK portfolio – including eight in Scotland, in a bid to slash costs amid tumbling hardware prices and competition from supermarkets and internet stores.
The move has resulted in the loss of more than 500 jobs.
Jessops is expected to slash its pre-tax losses to about £2m in the current financial year. Shares yesterday recovered 1.3p to stand at 8.4p.
The firm's executive chairman, David Adams, said: "We were prepared for a tough Christmas trading environment and managed the business accordingly. Much remains to be done to return the business to sustainable profitability and this performance over the key Christmas period is an encouraging step."
The 0.3 per cent upturn in Jessops' festive sales matches the like-for-like gain reported yesterday by the British Retail Consortium. However, December's pace of growth on the British high street was the weakest in three years.
POST-CHRISTMAS IS ANYTHING BUT BLUEA POST-Christmas trading revival came to the rescue of Bay Trading owner Alexon Group yesterday after it said profits would not be as bad as first feared.
The firm, which also sells the brands Alex, Dash and Ann Harvey, said guidance in early December had been too cautious as a challenging run-up to Christmas was offset by stronger trading later in the holiday period.
Shares jumped 7.3 per cent as profits for the year to 26 January are now likely to be at least £12.5 million, compared with the range of £11.5m to £12.5m indicated in the company's profits warning last month.
Alexon made £12.4m in 2006 and at one stage last year had been tipped to report £15.4m in the current financial period.
Stockbroker Panmure Gordon described it as good news. However, it added management had "much to do" to reduce volatility in profits.
JOHN LEWIS SOLIDJOHN Lewis has reported healthy Christmas sales from its department stores and Waitrose supermarket chain, but said it expected tough trading this year. The employee-owned firm, which has provided weekly trading updates up to 2 January, yesterday said sales at department stores open at least a year rose 6.2 per cent in the five weeks to 5 January, with total sales up 7.6 per cent. Like-for-like sales at Waitrose were up 4.1 per cent, excluding petrol; total sales up 6.1 per cent.
John Lewis, a barometer of middle-class spending, has reported higher sales growth than most of its rivals in recent weeks.
Chairman Charlie Mayfield said: "I'm pleased with the performance of the divisions, particularly in the context of the demanding market conditions we faced during this important trading period.
"Looking ahead, we expect the trading environment to continue to be very challenging this year."
DOMINO'S NET GAINPIZZA delivery chain Domino's served up a 17.6 per cent festive surge in sales as customers turned to the internet for their takeaway orders.
The firm said a more than doubling of online sales – up 102 per cent in the six weeks to 30 December – "made a significant contribution" to the Christmas boost in sales.
It added that full-year profits were set to be ahead of City hopes after like-for-like sales jumped by 14.7 per cent in 2007.
New products such as its ciabatta pizza helped drive the growth and came despite rising cheese and flour costs.
Domino's shares have been under pressure since it revealed it had seen the price of mozzarella rocket by more than £1,000 a tonne since June, when it was forced to switch suppliers. Shares in the group, which opened 50 franchised stores last year, closed 3p up at 178p yesterday.
Altium Securities analyst Greg Feehely said he now expected Domino's to report 2007 pre-tax profits of £18.3 million.
