House of Fraser, the UK and Ireland’s premium department store group, has reported its best ever Christmas trading period.
Like-for-like sales (ex VAT) for the first 9 weeks of the fourth quarter were up 4.3% and cash gross margins were up 8.7%. Like-for-like sales (ex VAT) for the 3 weeks to 28
December 2013 rose by 7.3% and cash gross margins were up 11.9%.
Stores sales were up 3% for the 3 weeks to 28 December 2013, with record sales performance in Glasgow, Belfast and Oxford Street, up 10.6%, 8.3% and 6.9% respectively.
Lastly online sales rose to by a record-breaking 57.7% for the 3 weeks to 28 December 2013.
John King, CEO of House of Fraser said, “We are delighted with our Christmas trading and are pleased to report another record performance despite a more competitive environment. November trading was strong, in terms of both sales and margin growth, with a similar promotional programme. As we expected, the peak Christmas trading came late, however it was the best we have ever recorded.
'We remain clearly differentiated with our leading branded fashion offer representing approximately two thirds of our sales. We are particularly pleased that this key part of our business was up nearly 10% over the peak period and clearly outperformed the market.
'This performance demonstrates the success of our strategy to continuously improve our online proposition, develop both our House Brands and premium branded proposition and invest in our stores to give our customers the best possible shopping experience. I would like to thank all of our staff and brand partners for their hard work and support over this period.
'With the record sales and margin performance in the period and a close focus on operational efficiencies, we expect to report a further growth in full year earnings. Given the sales performance, we also expect to finish the year with a cleaner stock position and lower net debt and are well placed to deliver further growth in 2014.”