Today marked the day on which several of the larger retailers who had not already done so, released their sales figures for the Christmas period. These include brands such as John Lewis, Primark, Debenhams and JD Sports and Tesco.
John Lewis reported that like-for-like sales in their stores rose by 2.7% in the six weeks up to December 31 and JLP owned brand, Waitrose, had a 2.3% increase in like-for-like sales in the same period. Yearly profits have been predicted to be up due to lower pension scheme costs.
Debenhams saw a rise in sales, in figures that exceed the company’s expectations. In the 7 weeks up to January 7th, sales grew by 5% and up by 1.7% at constant exchange rates. This defies early analysts’ predictions, which suggested the company would see a 1% drop in sales, however beauty and gift sales grew to take non-clothing sales up to 57%.
Associated British Foods, the firm that owns Primark, reported that the company has had a good trading period in the run up to Christmas although no figures have been published as of yet.
Tesco have kept the positive figures going, announcing a sales increase of 0.7%. This has been attributed in part to the rise in toys and clothes.
JD Sports have announced a sizeable rise, with sales expected to exceed predictions by 15%. These figures would mark a continuation of the 10% rise the company had during the first half of the year.
Marks and Spencers announced a sales increase of 1.3% in the UK, driven by an increase in clothing and homeware of 2.3%. The figures have sparked a rise in share prices of the company, as it has for JD Sports.
