Retail Week looks to next week with updates from Sainsbury’s and Home Retail, plus full-year figures from Ao.com and Bonmarché on the agenda.
Retail sales
BRC-KPMG will publish its Retail Sales Monitor for May on Tuesday. April’s figures revealed that sales growth was at its weakest since 2012 on a like-for-like basis, driven by declining fashion revenues. Total sales were flat during the month, with footwear emerging as the worst-performing category.
Shoe Zone
The footwear retailer posts its half-year results on Wednesday, off the back of a drop in earnings during its last financial year. In the year to October 3, Shoe Zone’s pre-tax profits slid 3.4% to £10.1m following the closure of loss-making stores, but it is planning to open 10 new ‘big box’ stores per year from 2017.
Ao.com
The white goods etailer, which came first in Retail Week’s list of the top 15 retailers to work for, unveils its full-year results on Wednesday. Ao.com reported a better than anticipated fourth-quarter performance in March, with profits and sales expected to come in ahead of expectations.
Sainsbury’s
The supermarket giant reveals its first-quarter trading update on Wednesday. Sainsbury’s outperformed its big four rivals in the sales stakes for much of its last financial year as it swung to a statutory pre-tax profit of £548m. Will momentum have continued into the new financial year.
Home Retail
The former Homebase owner will post its first-quarter figures on Thursday. The group is still in the process of being acquired by Sainsbury’s so both sides will want to present a strong set of figures. At its preliminary results last month, Home Retail reported a pre-tax loss of £804m after an “exceptional goodwill impairment charge” drove its bottom line into the red.
Bonmarché
The fashion chain unveils its full-year results on Friday, having warned that profits would come in at the lower end of expectations, despite like-for-likes inching up 0.5% in its fourth quarter. As well as Bonmarché’s bottom-line figure, the eyes of the City will focus on a potential start date for new boss Helen Connolly, who will take the reins “later in the year”.
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