The sale of struggling sportswear retailer JJB
has been dealt another body blow as the Telegraph reports that HMRC has been looking
into allegations that the firm wrongly charged VAT on children’s
clothing including replica football kits. The piece says
mistakes, dating back to 2006, in allocating codes to certain
lines of clothing meant thousands of items being wrongly
allocated VAT. In JJB’s annual report the company warned of a
£5.3 million provision associated with HMRC, but no details
had emerged.
Tesco chief Phil Clarke has suggested customers
are staying away from the shops and buying groceries on their PCs
and smartphones. In the Daily Mail’s This is Money column Phil Clarke
declared, “We have called time on the old retail space
race,” and added, “the choice we face is a stark one:
do we lead the revolution, or become victims of
evolution?”
The Financial Times reports that online grocer
Ocado has suffered a knock to its sales growth.
Figures reveal that despite gross sales increasing 9.9 percent
from £147.9 million to £162.6 million for the 12 weeks
to August 5 2012, it is a marked slowdown from the 13 percent
growth reported in the second quarter, and below expectations of
around an 11 percent growth. The piece also reveals that the
company has cash and cash equivalents of £67.1 million and
net debt of £83.1 million.
In the 26 week period from 29 January to 28 July 2012
like-for-like sales at menswear retailer Moss
Bros rose 5.7 percent while pretax profit marginally
rose to £2.2 million up on £2.16 million the previous
year. The retailer also reports EBITDA increased from £4.2
million last year to £4.3 million. Moss Bros said it had
been negatively impacted by the Olympics as like-for-like sales
had slowed in the seven weeks to September 15.
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