Dobbies slumps into the red despite 8% sales increase

Dobbies, the garden centre chain that is part of Tesco, has reported that it has slumped £48million into the red.

Figures show that after sales rose 8% to £153million in the 53 weeks to 1^st March, it suffered a massive loss from a pre-tax profit of £6.6million the previous year after booking £54.4million in impairments on assets which included stores.

As well as Dobbies, Tesco has also seen losses in other divisions such as Harris + Hoole, Giraffe and NutriCentre.

Tesco is feeling the pressure on its share price and analysts have recommended the supermarket sell off its smaller business to turn around its fortune.

A spokesperson at Dobbies said: “We are pleased with our full-year trading performance in 2014-15. This demonstrates that our strategy of putting plants and gardening first is working … Our strategy remains focused on our core categories of plants and gardening, which we are confident will fuel our growth in the future.”