|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retail sale: Selfridges, Carrefour
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Upmarket department store group Selfridges on Thursday joined the list of UK retailers reporting a slowdown in sales growth over the key Christmas period, but reassured investors about healthy profit margins. The 100-year-old company, best known for its flagship store on London's Oxford Street, said like-for-like sales growth slowed to two percent in the six weeks over Christmas compared with seven percent over the full 22 weeks to January 4. Sales growth was flat in the run-up to Christmas as shoppers were put off by the threat of terrorist attacks and disruption to the London underground rail network during a fire-fighters' strike. But winter sales had started well and, thanks to tight stock control, there had been less discounting than the year before, which had protected margins, the finance director and chief executive-in-waiting, Peter Williams, told reporters. Safeway beats expectationsBritish supermarket chain Safeway said on Thursday it enjoyed its best ever Christmas, with like-for-like sales in the four weeks ending January 4 up 4.2 percent, beating expectations. Countering gloom elsewhere in the UK retail sector, Safeway said sales had been helped by particularly strong demand for seasonal lines and non-foods. Industry analysts had expected a rose in like-for-like sales of only one to 2.5 percent. The sales results were released just ahead of an announcement that William Morrison had agreed to buy Safeway for £2.9 billion ($4.7 billion). (Full story) Carrefour sales disappointFrench supermarket group Carrefour reported 2002 sales down 1.6 percent to 76.78 billion euros after the market close. That was below the 77.02 billion euros forecast by a survey of eight analysts polled by Reuters. The world' second biggest retailer, after U.S. powerhouse Wal-Mart, said its growth rate was hurt by devaluations in Brazil and Argentina and weaker currencies in Asia.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
