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Sales flat after ‘volatile’ festive trading period for Argos

A worker at a major Argos distribution centre. Like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to January 3 were broadly unchanged at 0.1% higher for the retailer.
A worker at a major Argos distribution centre. Like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to January 3 were broadly unchanged at 0.1% higher for the retailer.

Argos has reported flat sales following a “volatile” Christmas trading period in which high demand for Black Friday promotions skewed its performance.

Home Retail Group said Argos’s like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to January 3 were broadly unchanged at 0.1% higher, as strong TV and video gaming sales offset a decline in jewellery.

Total sales lifted 0.8% to £1.8 billion.

CEO John Walden said Argos sales were up 45% on Black Friday after it received more than 13.5 million visitors to its digital channels, three times last year’s number.

He added: “The draw of discounts affected trade both before and after that busy weekend as consumers satisfied their Christmas shopping lists with bargains.”

As a result of the trading volatility Argos pursued a more cautious trading stance over the festive period to protect margins.

Home Retail’s DIY chain Homebase saw total sales fall 2.7% to £451 million, as the group closed 12 stores in the period in line with its October plan to close a quarter of its 323 stores by 2018 due to poor sales performances.

Like-for like sales at Homebase rose 0.6%.

The group remains on track to meet full-year profits targets, but shares fell 6.1% after the like-for-like sales figure for Argos came in below the City forecasts for growth of around 2%.

In the seasonal period Homebase sold 120,000 real Christmas trees and almost half a million pots of white emulsion.

In October, Mr Walden announced a three-year plan to help Homebase combat the threat of online rivals and a generation “less skilled in DIY projects” in a sector squeezed by the economic downturn.

* Primark sales rose 5% after the discount retailer benefited from continued UK growth and a major European expansion drive.

The retailer, owned by Associated British Foods, achieved the year-on-year improvement in the 16 weeks to January 3 despite the unusually warm autumn.

AB Foods expects Primark’s growth to continue over the rest of the financial year to September, but this will not be enough to offset lower prices on its sugar production business AB Sugar.

The FTSE 100-listed conglomerate, which employs 118,000 people in 47 countries, also has operations in agriculture, grocery and ingredients. Brands include Ryvita, Ovaltine, Silver Spoon, Kingsmill and Patak’s.

Primark recently toasted annual sales of nearly £5 billion and profits up 29%.

AB Foods said Primark’s trading performance for the last five weeks, including Christmas, was strong, with like-for-like sales growth in the UK and Ireland.