Laura Ashley to ‘meet expectations’ despite store closures
03 June 2011 10:27
Laura Ashley has said that trading for the full year will be in line with expectations, despite the impact that the company's store realignment programme is having on sales.
In a trading update, the company said that the programme of unprofitable store closures is continuing well, with 16 loss-making stores closed during the financial year ended 29th January 2011 and another three closed in the current year.
However, the moves took their toll on the company's total sales, which fell by 4.5% in the first 17 weeks of the current financial year, although like-for-like sales were only down by 1.3%.
Retail sales also improved in the second half of this 17-week period and while store performance declined, online sales improved by 6.7% for the 17-week period.
In a statement, the company said: "The continued international growth of the brand, strong product offering, built-in operational efficiencies and robust balance sheet will provide a firm base for the company to meet its challenges this year. It therefore anticipates that full-year trading will be in line with expectations".
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