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Weaker autumn sales take toll on Debenhams

Weaker autumn sales take toll on Debenhams

Strong Christmas trading at Debenhams failed to undo damage from weaker autumn sales at Britain’s No 2 department store chain.

A curb on festive promotions boosted Christmas sales but failed to prevent fresh questions over Debenhams’ turnaround plans.

The group, which has 248 stores in 28 countries, lifted like-for-like sales by 4.9% in the four weeks to January 10 after it boosted online trading by almost a third and held 10 fewer days of sales.

However, UK like-for-like sales for the 19 weeks to January 10 fell 0.8%, below analyst expectations for a 1% rise, as demand for winter clothing suffered from the unseasonal weather that hurt much of the industry.

Debenhams reported record group sales in the seven days prior to Christmas and a good performance on Black Friday, when an existing promotional event helped sales rise 10.3% over the week. Online orders on the day jumped 125%.

The previous Christmas Debenhams was forced to issue a profits warning due to poor sales and a botched promotional strategy.

The company has since overhauled its pricing and online offer, resulting in a 12.1% increase in the number of own bought products sold at full prices.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Keith Bowman said: “The group has delivered a mixed and broadly disappointing update. Full-year profit estimates are, at best, likely to remain unchanged.”

The department chain sold 250,000 women’s handbags between Black Friday and Christmas, and two pairs of gloves a minute in December, which is over 85,000 pairs.

The firm said the outlook for the coming year would again be challenging, and it did not anticipate a significant change in consumer confidence.

Shares fell 6.73%.