Adairs not putting jitters to bed just yet
MANCHESTER and homewares retailer Adairs has had a 35.3 per cent slump in half-year profit to $8.6 million following weak Christmas trade.
Adairs’ key like-for-like sales fell 4 per cent in the six months to January 1 and while the first weeks of the second half have seen an easing in the like-for-like sales decline, the company says it is too early to know if its trading performance will consistently improve.
But the group’s total sales for the half were up 5.7 per cent to $124.5 million compared to the same period a year ago.
Chief executive Mark Ronan said like-for-like sales in the first seven weeks of the second half of its 2017 financial year had been down 2 per cent.
“While this is an improvement and in line with our expectations, we are seeing higher than usual sales volatility across product categories,” he said.
“It is too early to forecast a consistent improvement.”
He said the group understood the issues that led to its disappointing first-half results, which included softer than expected Christmas trade and missed opportunities in the fashion linen product category.
“As the new-season fashion linen has started arriving in store, there are early reads on product which support the emergence of a turnaround in performance,” Mr Ronan said.