Sales inched up 1 per cent at multititle catalogue group
Findel, from £532.6 million to £537.8
million in the year ended 30th March. The revenue growth, before
exceptional items and terminated operations was largely due to a
strong performance in the Express Gifts
business, which saw sales rise 8.3 per cent and operating profit
increase 18.2 per cent. Overall pretax profit at the group was up
53 per cent to £10.7 million as its turnaround plans start to
bear fruit. Findel also announced a solid start to the new
financial year, with group sales up by 6.5 per cent for the first
eight weeks and “encouraging current trading” in all
businesses.
In related news, legacy issues identified in unprofitable
contracts, margin management and inventory control were all to
blame for an operating loss of £4.2 million at Findel-owned
Kitbag, compared with a profit of £1.9
million last year. To combat the decline, the sportswear etailer
has hired a new trading director to improve the focus on margin
and relaunch the Kitbag website.
British brand Ted Baker saw revenues soar 14.6
per cent in the 19-week period from 29th January to 9th June,
compared to the same time last year. During the period, Ted Baker
opened additional concessions in the US, Spain and Ireland and
continued to expand into new international markets, opening its
first store in Tokyo, Japan, and new concessions with department
stores in the Netherlands and South Korea. Direct
Commerce recently compared the websites of Ted Baker in the
UK and the US, for our conclusions, read our blog post.
Sainsbury’s is moving into the ebook space with
the acquisition of online books platform Anobii
from HMV. Following the purchase, Sainsbury’s
will hold a 64 per cent stake in the social network and online
retailer. The acquisition supports Sainsbury’s push into the
digital entertainment market following the acquisition of online
entertainment company Global Media Vault in
October 2011 and the launch of its music download service earlier
this year.
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