29th Jun 2016 07:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Crawshaw Group PLC on Wednesday said it has seen some "distorted and suppressed footfall patterns" in the last couple of weeks due to the start of the international football championships, the poor weather and the build up to the EU Referendum.
Crawshaw, the fresh meat and food-to-go retailer, said sales were up 37% for the first twenty weeks of its financial year, which began at the start of February, but like-for-like sales were down 1.9% for the same period.
"As has been widely reported, footfall conditions on the high street and in shopping centres were softer in March, impacted predominantly by the structural timing of Easter, soft again in June due to the impact of the start of the international football championships, the adverse persistent weather and the build up to the EU Referendum; these conditions were reflected in our own performance," said Chief Executive Noel Collett.
"It is too early to judge if the vote to leave the EU impacts consumer confidence in the medium term, but clearly our retail format of quality fresh meat at value prices means we are well placed to delight new and existing customers with our offer should disposable income become stretched," Collett added.
Crawshaw said its cash margin generated in its like-for-like trading stores continued to perform strongly and increased by 1.0% for the same period as the company looked to manage the balance of sales and margin in its like-for-like estate.
Crawshaw said its new store rollout plan continues, with an additional eight trading stores opened since the start of February, and its portfolio of stores stands at 47.
Crawshaw said it opened its first standalone fresh meat factory shop in West Bromwich, London, in June, which is trading well and said it expects its second store to open in the summer.
Crawshaw noted that it has a "strong pipeline" at various stages and is confident of meeting its target of 15 new stores for the year.
Shared in Crawshaw were down 1.6% at 77.75 pence on Wednesday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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