House of Fraser Christmas sales decline 2.9 percent

For the six weeks to December 23, 2017, House of Fraser (UK & Ireland) Limited, announced that sales in stores from the beginning of the Black Friday event declined by 2.9 percent, while during the Black Friday event, sales in stores grew by 0.8 percent. Web sales were down 7.5 percent in the period but across the Black Friday event were within 1 percent of last year’s record sales performance.

Commenting on the results for Christmas trade, Alex Williamson, CEO of House of Fraser, said in a press release: “We are a business in transition; our focus is on driving profitability rather than chasing revenue at any cost. We are not a business determined to sell everything to everyone at any price. What’s important, and we are seeing some success in the numbers, is to keep our discipline in selling those products that are loved by customers and profitable for House of Fraser.”

The company added that the group’s strategy to reduce the volume of discounted products being sold increased gross margins across the business by approximately 0.5 percent at constant exchange rates over the festive period. In the four weeks to December 23, 2017, web store profit contribution of 6.1 million pounds (8.2 million dollars) was in line with the previous year due to an increase in gross margin, combined with efficiency gains from investment in the logistics network. The company said, sales during the first week of the post-Christmas sale were disappointing, although sales since New Year’s Day have recovered and are broadly in line with last year in both stores and online.

The company has also finalised the terms of the sale of the brand names and associated IP of those house brands no longer used in the UK to Guangzhou Sunrise Trading Limited for a cash consideration of 30 million pounds (40.4 million dollars).

“I am satisfied with the performance of the group over the Christmas period, delivering a credible performance in what was a very difficult retail market. Alex and the team have made excellent progress in delivering our Transformation Programme as we prepare ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead, and with the continued support of our shareholder we look forward to an exciting future for House of Fraser,” added Frank Slevin, House of Fraser’s Executive Chairman.

Picture:Facebook/House of Fraser