10th Sep 2015 06:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Home Retail Group PLC on Thursday said its total sales for Argos and Homebase both declined in the second quarter and said the outcome for the full year is less predictable than in the past.
The FTSE 250-listed company, which owns catalogue retailer Argos and home improvement retailer and garden centre Homebase, said total sales for Argos in the second quarter were down 0.4% year-on-year to GBP897.0 million, while like-for-like sales in the business fell 2.8%.
Sales of electrical products continued to decline, in line with the company's expectations, due principally to TVs, tablets and white goods, which offset a better performance for toys. Online sales grew in the quarter and now represent 46% of total sales for Argos, while mobile sales also grew and now represent 25% of the retailer's sales.
Total sales at Homebase were down 2.8% to GBP378.0 million as a result of the ongoing store closure programme for the business, which resulted in eight stores being closed in the second quarter, cutting the total portfolio to 271. Like-for-like sales were higher, however, up 5.9% with broad-based growth across product categories, but particularly in big ticket items.
"The outcome for the group's full-year generally depends upon the important Christmas trading period at Argos which, this year, seems less predictable than usual due to a less certain promotional environment," said John Walden, Home Retail's chief executive.
"Our teams have made solid progress preparing for this period, including substantially completing the technology and operational steps necessary to introduce new store collection and home delivery propositions to our customers. We will be making increased marketing and promotional investments to launch these propositions and we expect customers to increasingly embrace them over time," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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