Home & DIY retailer Wickes has today reported that like-for-like (LFL) sales fell by 1.6 per cent year-on-year for the 47-week trading period to November 26th 2011 as it continues to battle against low consumer confidence and a challenging economic landscape.
Delivered turnover increased by 0.6 per cent, while core product sales, which represent 80 per cent of turnover, rose by 1.6 per cent on a LFL basis over the period, according to a statement released this morning by parent company Travis Perkins.
However, kitchen & bathroom trading continued to decline following poor results in its third quarter, down 13.3 per cent, results which parent were said to be indicative of a decrease in major purchases amid ongoing economic gloom.
Over the past 12 months, the homewares & DIY sector has struggled considerably, with Focus DIY falling into administration earlier this year – resulting in 13 of its store being purchased by Wickes.
Trading has continued to be sluggish through the autumn , with Wickes saying LFL delivered sales dropped 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the last eight weeks.
In spite of this fall in sales, Travis Perkins remains positive about the coming months as its BSS plumbing division saw total turnover for the first 11 months of the year jump 2.4 per cent compared to the same period last year, while turnover per trading day up by 2.8 per cent.
A statement for the group said: “We remain on track to meet our net debt target of £600 million at the year end.
“These trends mean that our outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged from that stated in our October interim management statement.”
