Builders merchant Travis Perkins has taken full
control of Toolstation after acquiring the
remaining 70 per cent of the business it did not own from Mark
Goddard-Watts and his family trusts. Travis Perkins, which also
owns DIY specialist Wickes,
originally bought a 30 per cent stake in the multichannel seller
of hardware and tools in April 2008. Yesterday it paid
£42 million in addition to the £18 million it
previously paid for the shareholding and stock options. A further
payment is dependent on the future performance of the business.
Toolstation has expanded from 12 outlets in 2008, to 103 outlets
at the end of 2011 and its online and mail order business is said
to be growing at “several times the current market growth
rates”. It has gross assets of £34 million and
generated EBITDA of £5 million in the financial year to 31
December 2011. The current management team will remain in
place.
Strong sales in Next’s online and mail order
business compensated for “slightly disappointing”
retail store sales, said the homewares and apparel retailer in a
statement. In the period from 1st August to 24th December, Next
Directory sales rose 16.9 per cent, while retail sales fell 2.7
per cent in the run up to Christmas. Further, despite a good
pre-Christmas week, overall November and December sales were
disappointing, given the weak comparables due to the snow and ice
last year. Next said it was “hard to judge” to what
extent the warm winter weather this year and higher levels of
discounting by its competitors “masked the deeper, longer
lasting, economic effects”.
Among the winners this Christmas is department-store chain
John Lewis, which posted a 9.3 per cent
year-on-year rise in sales over the Christmas trading period.
Sales reached £596 million in the five weeks to 31st
December. Store sales were up 6.2 per cent, while online sales
grew 27.9 per cent during the period.
In accounts filed at Companies House, losses at furniture
retailer Heal’s narrowed to £2.5 million,
from £3.7 million the previous year, reports the Mail’s
This is Money website. However, total sales
fell 8 per cent to £27.3 million. According to the piece,
Heal’s directors remain cautious about the economic outlook. A
statement by the company, quoted in the article reads, “Our
sales performance was robust through the first half of the year
though fell away somewhat during the second half 2010/11, and we
expect that the economy will continue to affect store sales in
the coming financial year.”
Sears, the American company that also owns the
Lands’ End catalogue business, appointed Ron
Boire as chief merchandising officer “to inject more retail
experience into the company’s senior management”, reports
the Telegraph. According to the newspaper, Sears
said it would close up to 120 of its 3,500 stores in the US after
sales dropped more than 5 per cent in what should have been the
chain’s busiest time of the year. Shares plunged 30 per cent since
Sears revealed its Christmas trading on 27th December.
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