The vagaries of war and weather have hit sales at House of Fraser.
The Iraq conflict, followed by poor weather in May has, according to analysts, contributed to a tough trading climate on the high street, with like-for-like sales growth of just 0.6 per cent for the first 20 weeks of this financial year.
The flat performance follows last week's profit warning from fellow department store Beales, which said the negative like-for-like trend identified in March had persisted making it necessary to 're-evaluate expectations.'
A significant second-half shortfall is now expected.
House of Fraser told its annual general meeting that store closures were to blame for the 2.7 per cent drop in total sales.
Chief executive John Coleman said House of Fraser was clawing back savings from stores and head office, and pointed to a new shop in the City of London and the Rackhams relaunch in Birmingham, both in September.
Deputy chief executive David Adams said: 'Business did dip down after the war in Iraq, but has come back quite strongly.'
Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner warned House of Fraser was walking a 'tightrope' between the need to increase sales against a backdrop of high borrowings, a high capex requirement and underlying rental increases.
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