HRG profits hit in "particularly difficult" year
29 April 2009 10:01
Home Retail Group has been hit by lower spending on home improvement throughout the UK, resulting in a reported loss before tax of £394 million compared with a profit of £426m last year. Group adjusted pre-tax profit stood at £327.7M versus £432.9 million a year earlier.
In the year ended February 28th, total sales were down 1% to £5,897m (2008: £5,985m), with like-for-like sales down 4.8% at Argos and down 10.2% at Homebase.
Oliver Stocken, chairman of Home Retail Group, commented: "This has been a challenging year for the UK retail industry. While profit performance in the short term cannot be immune from the economic backdrop, the group's underlying strengths will secure our continued longer-term success. Delivering another year of net cash generation has been an excellent result and ensures we are well placed for the future".
Terry Duddy, chief executive of Home Retail Group, commented: "In a particularly difficult trading environment, we have managed our costs and cash very effectively to limit the impact on profits. This focus has put us in an even better position to trade through another tough year while further improving our competitive position. We will continue to develop our broad product range, benefit further from our advantaged sourcing operations and invest in our multi-channel operations in order to strengthen our position as the UK's leading home and general merchandise retailer".
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