Debenhams remains hopeful of turnaround
Department store chain Debenhams failed to show a sales recovery today as it warned the near-term retail environment could become more challenging.
The group said like-for-like sales were down 5% in the year to September 1, after trends seen in the first half of the year continued into the summer.
While Debenhams said it had been forced to increase mark-downs, it added that profits for the period were still likely to be in line with market hopes.
It is pinning its hopes of a recovery on a refurbishment programme and the opening of new sites, following the launch of two new department stores and four Desire stores in the past year.
The estate currently consists of 133 department stores and nine Desire shops.
Chief executive Rob Templeman said: “Macro economic factors suggest that the retail environment will be more challenging in the short term, nonetheless we believe that the actions we have implemented across the business position us well for the new financial year.”
