Matalan's profit slide fails to dent King's confidence

Matalan chief executive John King believes he can turn the business around, despite the retailer's profit warning.

'Judge us on what we do next year. You don't turn a business around in six months,' he insisted.

Last week, Matalan posted a 7 per cent drop in like-for-likes for the 14 weeks to December 6. Full-year profits will be 'materially short of market expectations'.

The fall was caused by slow sales of higher-priced goods, distribution problems and ineffective marketing. 'We should have been more aggressive with marketing,' said King.