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Barclays Christmas Trading Update

Barclays Commercial Bank Christmas Trading update for 2008.

To 10th January 2008

• DSG International warned that it expects full year pre-tax profits to be £40m to £50m below the current market expectations due to weaker trading, including a 10% slide in like-for-like sales at PC World since October. For the 11 weeks to 29 December, total group sales were up 5% but like-for-like sales declined by 1%. In the electricals division, total sales were up 6% but like-for-likes down 1%. In the computing division, total sales were down 5% and like-forlike sales declined 11%.

• John Lewis announced record sales in the week to 29 December with sales up 8% excluding the Oxford Street branch’s food hall. Sales were boosted particularly by electricals and home technology, beauty products, lingerie, menswear and accessories.

• Majestic Wine said that it achieved “good” sales performance in December after a “disappointing” November. UK like-for-like sales for the 9 weeks to 31 December increased 1.2%. For the 5 weeks to 31 December, UK like-for-like sales were up 4.1%.

• Next total sales for the period from 30 July to 24 December were up 0.3% on last year. Within this figure, Next Retail sales were down 0.3% and like-for-like sales were down 3.2%. Next Directory sales were strong at +2.2% for the period.

• Play.com, the UKs second largest online entertainment retailer, saw sales rise by 24% in Q4 2007. Sales in the month of December grew by 29%, reflecting the continuing dominance of internet shopping over the Christmas period. At its peak, Play.com processed 700 orders a minute, up from 422 orders a minute in 2006. The strong sales figures confirm the industry predictions of a bumper online Christmas, with the IMRG estimating that online sales over December could hit £7bn.

Week to 11th January 2008

• The Co-operative Group announced a 3.4% increase in like-for-like sales over the 3 weeks to 5 January. Like-for-like sales at the company’s smaller convenience stores rose 6.2%.

• Dreams announced a 7% increase in like-for-like sales over the Christmas and New Year sales period from 1 December to 6 January.

• Dunelm announced like-for-like sales slowing from +5.6% after 18 weeks to +4.9% for the 26 weeks to 29 December. Total sales were up 10.6% during the period.

• Fat Face announced a 19% rise in sales to £61.7m for the half year to 1 December 07. Total sales in the 5 weeks to 5 January 08 increased by 18%. Over the six months Fat Face opened 10 new stores and relocated a further 7 stores.

• Findel reported that sales for the 39 weeks to 28 December were up by 23%.

• Greggs reported a 5.6% rise in like-for-like sales over the festive trading period of the 4 weeks to 5 January 08. Like for like sale in Q2 to 29 December 07 increased 5.8%.

• House of Fraser like-for-like sales were up 2.4% in the 5 weeks to 3 January 2008.

• Jessops announced a 0.3% increase in like-for-like sales over the 7 weeks to 6 January, compared with a fall of nearly 7% the previous year.

• The John Lewis Partnership announced a like-for-like sales increase at its Waitrose chain of 4.1% (excl-Fuel) in the 5 weeks to 5 January. John Lewis department store sales were up 6.2% like-for-like during the period. Overall sales rose 6.1% at Waitrose and 7.6% at John Lewis. John Lewis reported an 18% rise in sales in the week ending 29 December.

• Jacques Vert announced pre-tax profit for the 6 months to 27 October of £1.8m against £2.3m last year. Like-for-like sales were flat with total sales up 1.8% in the difficult trading environment. For the last 10 weeks, like-for-like sales were down 2.2%.

• John David Group announced like-for-like sales in the 8 weeks to 5 January up 9.3% with like-for-like growth of 11.8% previously reported for the 44 weeks to 1 December. Cumulative like-for-like sales for the 44 weeks increased 11.4%.

• Land of Leather reported total sales 16.6% down on the same period last year with like-for-like sales down 25.5%.

• Sales for the 4 weeks to 24 December at Liberty were up 5% while the post Christmas sales have been flat on last year. The Christmas period saw a particularly strong performance in Menswear, Liberty of London and Beauty.

• Marks & Spencer sales for the 13 weeks to 29 December increased 2.8% but fell 2.2% on a like-for-like basis. General merchandise sales fell by 3.2% like-for-like while food sales fell 1.5% like-for-like during the period.

• New Look like-for-like sales fell by 3.4% over the 15 weeks to 5 January while total sales, helped by new stores, increased by 9.7%.

• Signet announced that like-for-like sales at H Samuel and Ernest Jones fell 3.1% in the 8 weeks to 29 December. In the US, like-for-like sales were down 8.1% and for the group sales were down 6.8% overall.

• J Sainsbury announced a 3.7% rise in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, for the 12 weeks to 29 December. Strong sales of the retailer's Taste The Difference lines, as well as record growth of Sainsbury's Basics lines, helped the retailer achieve healthy sales, assisted by food price inflation of around 1%.

• During its first Christmas under the new brand name, sales for the 4 weeks to 5 January for Zavvi increased 10.8% like-for-like on the previous year. The sale of games increased 62.7% like-for-like and DVD sales grew 6.4% like-for-like, over the Christmas period.

Week to 18th January 2008

• Alliance Boots saw like-for-like sales at its UK stores rise by 6.9% over the last 3 months of 2007. Pharmacy dispensing volumes grew 5.2% and wholesale volumes grew 3.5%.

• Total sales at Burberry increased by 26% during the third quarter but retail sales, which accounted for over 60% of total revenue in the period, increased by 14%.

• Clinton Cards like-for-like sales increased 2.5% in the 5 weeks to 24 December. Like-for-like sales at the Clinton brand increased 1.7% and the Birthdays brand 5.7% over the period.

• Debenhams announced that total sales for the 4 weeks to 5 January increased 4.4% with like-for-like sales up 2.2%. For the 18 weeks to 5 January 08, total sales were 2.0% above the same period the previous year.

• Game Group announced like-for-like sales for the 6 week Christmas period up 31.9%. Within this, UK and international like-for-like sales were +30.3 and +38.5 respectively. The company stated that profits would not be less than £73m – update from the previous £70m statement.

• HMV announced like-for-like sales for the 5 weeks to 5 January of +9.4%. This splits into like-for-like sales of +14.1% for HMV UK, +4% for Waterstones and -0.6% at HMV International. Much of the growth was driven by the gaming market but if this category is excluded like-for-like sales were still +8%, driven by huge market share gains in music and a strong DVD product range.

• Home Retail Group released Christmas trading figures with total sales at Argos up 2.5% but like-for-like sales down 0.2% in the 18 weeks to 5 January. Total sales at Homebase fell 6.3% though gross margins rose 2% and the sale of big ticket items also grew.

• JJB Sports has announced that total sales for the 23 weeks to 6 January were up 2.2% and up 2.2% like-for-like. Retail stores delivered growth of +1.2% (+1.9% like-for-like). The Christmas period of 6 weeks to 6 January saw retail sales growth of 2.5% but the gross margin was down 4% as stock was cleared.

• MandMDirect announced a surge in internet orders fuelled an almost 30% jump in sales in the run-up to Christmas. Internet orders were up 51% in the 9 weeks to 30 December.

• Marks & Spencer sales were as follows: for the 13 weeks to 29 December, Group Sales rose 2.8%, UK sales rose 2.0%, General Merchandise -0.7%, Clothing -1.2%, Home +3.2%, UK Like-for-like sales -2.2%, General Merchandise like-for-like sales -3.2%, Food like-for-like sales -1.5% but International sales grew by 15.1%.

• Mothercare announced Q3 sales were up 61% excluding Early Learning Centre. UK like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 11 January increased 3.4% and like-for-like store sales increased 2.5%. This is up from figures of +2.8% and 1.6% respectively for the year-to-date figure. Mothercare stated that its expectations for profits to come in at the top end of analysts expectations (Seymour Pierce forecast: £34.5m).

• Sales at N Brown for the 20 weeks to 12 January increased 14% in total and like-for-like, ahead of the 11.1% growth seen after 6 weeks. Within this, sales to new customers increased by 30%.

• Primark revealed a 26% increase in sales in the 4 months to January 2008. Parent company Associated British Foods saw revenues grow 20% while the grocery operation was up 15%.

• ScS said that trading over the first three weeks of the Boxing Day and January sale had been disappointing. Like-forlike sales order intake over the period was down by 17%. Like-for-like sales order intake for the 24 weeks of the current financial year is down by 17%.

• Smiths News announced total group revenue growth of 0.8% for the 19 weeks of its financial year beginning on the 1st September.

• Ted Baker revealed that sales in its retail division for the period from 1 November to 24 December increased by 12.5%. The company said that it had seen strong performance from its retail division over second half of the year with a 14% growth in sales over the period from 12 August to 24 December.

• Theo Fennell announced that it saw December sales up 2% on last year.

• Thorntons announced total sales growth of 7.6% during the second quarter with own store sales growth of 2.4% to £56.7m. Like-for-like sales growth was 1.2%. Franchised sales showed an increase of 10%, with the addition of 31 new franchises during the quarter, and commercial sales grew by 24.9%.

• Tesco continued to deliver a strong performance with group sales increasing 12.8% in the 6 weeks to 5 January. Total UK sales grew by 8.0% with like-for-like sales growth of 5.1% and 2.9% from new space. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel increased by 3.1% during the period. Online, Tesco saw total sales growth of 24% in Tesco Direct and Tesco.com.

• Like-for-like sales at Woolworths for the 49 weeks were down 3.2% but with total group sales growth of 11.2%.

Week to 25th January 2008

• Asos.com has released Christmas trading figures with sales for the 7 weeks to 20 january up 86%.

• Ideal Shopping Direct, the operator of TV and online shopping channels, has released a pre-close update for the 52 weeks ending 30 December. Like-for-like sales for the 17 weeks to 30 December were up 27.7%.

• Sports direct announced sales of £280m for the 11 weeks from 29 October to 13 January.

• The White Stuff has posted strong Christmas trading with like-for-like sales up by 7% in the 10 weeks to 29 December. The chain is now reported to be embarking on an expansion plan, trebling its high street presence by opening 40 new stores.

• Wm Morrison has announced a 9.5% rise in underlying sales for the 6 weeks to 6 January following a successful Christmas advertising campaign and improved ranges and availability. Including fuel, like-for-like sales increased by 11.3%. Total sales increased 11.6% (13.6% including fuel).

Week to 1st February 2008

•  Hamleys has announced an 11.3 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the five weeks to 29 December. Internet sales increased by 46 per cent and sales from the Regent Street store rose by 7.7 per cent compared to 2006.

• The Original Factory Shop reported strong like-for-like sales for the festive trading period with total sales increasing of 20.7% and like-for-like sales by 4.7% in the 9 week period to 13 Jan 08.

• Christmas trading at W H Smith was ahead of analyst expectations with Group sales for the 21 weeks to Jan 21 were up by 1% with like-for-like sales down 2%. In the High Street, like-for-like sales for the period were down 3% and the Travel division saw like-for-like sales up 1%.