Marks & Spencer and Debenhams have reported a fall in sales during the Christmas period, while John Lewis has said staff may not get their annual bonus for the first time since 1953, marking another grim day for struggling UK retailers.
Like-for-like sales slumped 3.4% at Debenhams in the six weeks to 5 January, down 3.6% people made fewer trips to the high street.
The embattled department store chain predicted profits for the year would still keep up with previous forecasts but that didn’t do much to support the share price which tumbled 12.8% on Thursday.
The Times reports it may have to seek new sources of funding as it battles to halt and reverse stubbornly falling sales.
John Lewis Partnership cited “unusual” levels of volatility in the retail market, and despite a steady Christmas trading period, where gross sales were up 1.4% to £2.2bn over the seven weeks to January 5, said it continued to expect full-year total profits to be “substantially lower” this year.
At Marks & Spencer improved online sales helped it to produce a third-quarter performance that was slightly ahead of the City’s expectations.
The household retailer said its turnaround was “exactly where we planned it to be at this stage” even as it again reported that sales at its UK food and clothing and home divisions fell by 2.1% and 2.4% like-for-like, respectively.
Overall like-for-like sales were down 2.2% in the 13 weeks to December 29. The retail chain, which has been in turnaround programmes for more than a decade, has maintained its full-year profit guidance.
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Click here for the full Guardian John Lewis article
