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| UK market 'challenging', says New Look boss | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The chief executive of fashion retailer New Look has warned of a "challenging UK market" after his company suffered a 37.6% drop in pre-tax profits in the three months to Christmas. | |
| Anders Kristiansen said "reduced footfall and a highly promotional environment on the high street" had contributed to the figures. | |
| New Look's pre-tax profits were £30.1m in the run-up to the festive period. | |
| Meanwhile, UK retail sales in general grew more slowly in January. | |
| The British Retail Consortium attributed the drop to consumers reining in spending after Christmas. | |
| China sales positive | |
| Despite New Look's fall in profits, total sales rose 0.8% to £422.6m, although like-for-like sales fell by 4.7%. | |
| In the UK, the company opened four more standalone menswear stores, bringing the total to 19, and it also enjoyed record online sales on Black Friday. | |
| Meanwhile in China, where it now has more than 100 stores, the company recorded positive like-for-like sales. | |
| Mr Kristiansen added: "Total sales for the quarter were level as a result of good performances outside the UK, online and in menswear, proving that our strategy of diversification is the right one for our business. | |
| "It remains key to our growth to continue to diversify our offer and to invest in our priority international markets. | |
| "We are clear on the actions needed to capture customer spend, but these will take time to implement. | |
| "While we expect 2017 to be tough and are setting our plans accordingly, we strongly believe in our ability to continue to execute our strategy." | |
| Grocery spending level | |
| Meanwhile, the BRC figures revealed that general retail sales had inched up 0.1% year-on-year, a big slowdown from the 1.7% increase in December and the weakest performance since last August. | |
| The change was largely because of slower non-food sales, although spending on groceries held up. | |
| The BRC said consumers were feeling cautious going into the new year. | The BRC said consumers were feeling cautious going into the new year. |
| "Looking across the last three months, we've seen the slowest growth of the festive period since 2009," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson added. | "Looking across the last three months, we've seen the slowest growth of the festive period since 2009," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson added. |
| According to the research, consumers had cut back on non-essentials, although sales of furniture climbed towards the end of the year. | According to the research, consumers had cut back on non-essentials, although sales of furniture climbed towards the end of the year. |
| Spending on food rose 2% in the quarter, while online sales jumped 8.6% as more shoppers shunned the high street. | Spending on food rose 2% in the quarter, while online sales jumped 8.6% as more shoppers shunned the high street. |