Fab four defy festive gloom

Aldi leads quartet in retail sales boom

FOUR big name chains bucked the high street gloom by announcing bumper festive results yesterday.

Budget supermarket Aldi said it had its best Christmas, as it raked in sales of nearly £1billion last month, up around 10%, but less than the 15% leap a year ago.

Demand was driven by customers switching from rivals and booming sales of its posh nosh lines, it said.

Aldi shoppers bought more than 17 million bottles of wine, Champagne and Prosecco in December. However experts branded Aldi’s sales figure “extremely selective” as it was boosted by opening 65 stores last year.

Upmarket department store Selfridges also had a record Christmas. The firm, with outlets in London, Manchester and Birmingham, saw takings jump 8%.

Boss Anne Pitcher said festive experiences – including a Christmas cabaret and confetti cannons – helped draw in customers.

Elsewhere, home furnishings chain Dunelm expects to beat City profit forecasts after a strong end to the year. Sales in stores open at least a year rose 5.7% to £246million in the final 13 weeks, with online trade up 38%. Dunelm’s share price leapt 15% as a result. But firm boss Nick Wilkinson warned they remained cautious about the months ahead because of “ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy”.

Finally, arts and crafts chain Hobbycraft saw store sales rise 7.1% in the six weeks to Christmas Eve. The good news came despite a report last week from accountants BDO which said a weak Christmas capped the worst year for retailers. Analysts forecast a number of chains will report a festive flop in sales in the coming weeks. They reckon Aldi rival Sainsbury’s will announce a 0.2% drop tomorrow, with Marks & Spencer expected to follow with a 2.5% to 3% slump on Thursday.

Meanwhile, trendy fashion firm Missguided plunged £46m into the red in the year to last April.

The loss, from £1.6m the previous, was blamed on bad product design and soaring costs.