Fashion spending now out of vogue
HIGH street fashion firms took a £1.4billion hit yesterday amid fears of a spending slowdown.
Shares in industry giants Next crashed nine per cent after they revealed “extremely volatile” trading.
The clothing and homeware chain’s high street stores were worst affected, with sales down 7.7 per cent in the past three months.
Boss Lord Wolfson said business was up across their stores and online in August and September, but sales dipped in October.
The update from industry bellwether Next prompted investors to dump shares in rivals. Marks & Spencer’s fell 4.4 per cent, while Debenhams’ dropped 4.6 per cent.
Even firms who have been bucking the gloom suffered. A 2.1 per cent fall in Primark owners Associated down 5.1 British Foods’ shares higher interest rates, then it and near one per cent won’t be a good thing for the drop for Superdry took consumer.” the collective amount George Salmon, equity wiped off all their analyst at brokers Hargreaves stock market values to Lansdown, said: “A particularly more than £1.4billion. weak October means the group
Next notched up a enter the all-important 1.3 per cent groupwide Christmas period with less sales rise, aided momentum than they would by a 13.2 per cent have liked.”
Next shares slumped jump in takings at Next kept their central profit online and catalogue arm Directory. outlook for the year at £717million, Wolfson said shoppers were only which would mark a nine per cent buying “as and when they need”. fall on last year – their first drop
The millionaire Tory peer reckons since the financial crisis. Neil an expected 0.25 per cent rise in the Wilson, a senior market analyst at Bank of England’s base rate today ETX Capital, said: “The firm have no won’t make much difference to idea what to expect over the vital people’s spending habits. Christmas trading period.”
But he added: “If it’s the beginning Yesterday’s fall in Next’s share of a move towards significantly price follows a big rise since August. at 7487.9 GKN GlaxoSmithKline Halfords Hays HSBC Imperial Brands International Airlines Grp ITV Kingfisher Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Marks & Spencer Morrison National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Prudential Reckitt Benckiser 319.1 1351.5 331.1 185.1 732.7 3073.5 +2.1 -6.0 +0.6 -1.3 -1.6 +3.0 635.5 -0.5 162.0 -2.5 309.3 -3.3 952.5 -13.5 269.0 +2.0 68.6 +0.3 328.8 -15.3 224.0 -0.2 898.7 -7.3 4471.0-449.9 191.6 +0.6 704.0 +0.5 1849.5 -2.5 6576.0 -159.0 Oil = $60.45 RELX 1711.0 -22.0 Rentokil Initial 334.5 -1.3 Rio Tinto 3652.5+104.0 Rolls-Royce 960.0 -13.0 Royal Mail 369.9 -4.5 RSA 633.0 +4.0 RBS 284.5 +2.0 J Sainsbury 236.4 -6.1 SSE 1364.0 -18.0 Severn Trent 2072.0 -39.0 Serco 114.8 -1.8 Sports Direct 394.5 -0.9 Shell 2417.0 -4.5 Sky 949.0 +6.0 Smith & Nephew 1378.0 -43.0 Smith WH 2045.0 -2.0 Stagecoach 167.8 +1.0 Standard Chartered 705.0 -45.3 Standard Life Aberdeen 432.9 +3.1 TalkTalk 213.8 +0.3 Taylor Wimpey 201.6 +2.1 Tesco Thomas Cook Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Trinity Mirror 178.5 119.6 4246.0 821.0 219.0 85.0 -2.9 -0.2 -23.5 -12.0 +3.3 +0.5