Home Retail Group, the parent company of Argos
and Homebase has told the City it “cannot be
immune from the economic backdrop” after posting a
like-for-like sales decline of 10.2 per cent at Homebase and 4.8
per cent at Argos for the year to 28th February 2009. It saw
profits slide 24 per cent from £432.9 million in fiscal
2008 to £327.7 million this year. Chief executive Terry
Duddy remained positive though, telling investors that through
effective cost management, the group was in “an even
better position to trade through another tough year”.
In its pre-close financial statement, music and games
retailer HMV said it expects to its fiscal 2009 profit to
be at the upper end of market expectations-around £63.7
million. It also announced total sales growth of 4.8 per cent in
the 52 weeks to 25th April, but like-for-like sales were flat.
The Times profiles Matthew Hardcastle, the
new boss at Woolworths.
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