RETAILERS could give the City a rare piece of good news, with strong profits from a celebrity-inspired fashion website and a turnaround of fortunes at HMV.
While fashion rivals have warned of slowing sales, online retailer ASOS, which bases its products on clothing worn by celebrities, is expected to reveal a doubling of pre-tax profits of £7 million in the year to 31 March. Its shares have tripled s
ince October, boosted by strong sales and reports that it is planning a discounting business to sell off excess stock.
Meanwhile, music and games retailer HMV is set to unveil the fruits of a recent sales recovery with its full-year results tomorrow. One year into a three-year turnaround, chief executive Simon Fox is expected to reveal pre-tax profits of £58m for the year to 26 April, about £10m more than a year ago.
At a trading update in May, Fox said the turnaround plan was ahead of schedule and guided analysts at the upper end of market expectations of between £46m and £58m.
The revival plan – which includes store revamps, a focus on big-selling games and consoles, and a digital music and online push – is beginning to pay dividends. The group, which also owns the Waterstone's book chain, lifted like-for-like sales 7.3 per cent over the year, with same-store sales growth at its UK and Ireland outlets even further ahead at 11.4 per cent.
And the effect of soaring wholesale electricity prices and climate change regulation on Drax, the owner of Europe's largest coal-fired power station, will be revealed this week.
Drax, which produces about 7 per cent of Britain's electricity from its plant near Selby, issues a trading update today, the day of its half-year end.
The full article contains 301 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
